James Walker (racing driver)

James Walker
Walker at the 2013 6 Hours of Silverstone
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1983-08-25) 25 August 1983 (age 41)
Jersey (Channel Islands)
Superleague Formula career
Debut season2008
Current teamLiverpool F.C.
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number1
Former teamsRangers F.C.
Borussia Dortmund
Starts4
Wins1
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish13th in 2008
Previous series
2007–09
2006
2004–06
2002–03
2002		Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Formula Three Euroseries
British Formula Three
Formula Ford Great Britain
Junior Formula Ford UK
Championship titles
2003FFord GB – S'ship Class

James Walker (born 25 August 1983, in Jersey) is a professional racing driver from Great Britain.

Career

Formula Ford

Walker began his single seater racing career in 2002 in the UK Formula Ford championship, finishing the year in 17th place. He also took part in the Avon Tyres Junior Formula Ford series, finishing 6th, and the end-of-season Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, where he finished 12th.

For 2003 he stayed in UK Formula Ford, winning the scholarship class for year-old cars as well as taking three overall podium finishes, including a win at Mondello Park. He also finished 9th in the Formula Ford Festival. As a result of his achievements during the season he was nominated for the National Racing Driver of the Year at the annual Autosport Awards.

Formula Three

The following year Walker moved up to the British Formula Three Championship, the first of three seasons in the category. Competing for Hitech Racing, he finished his first season in 18th place. He also raced in the one-off Formula 3 European Cup event, finishing 11th, and the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort, where he finished in 28th place. During the same year, he was also awarded 'Rising Star' status by the British Racing Drivers Club.

In 2005 he switched to the Fortec Motorsport team, taking one race win, at the Nürburgring, to finish the year 11th overall. He once again took part in the Marlboro Masters race, but retired from the event. Walker returned to Hitech Racing for the 2006 season, taking three podium places on his way to 9th in the final standings. He also took part in two F3 Euroseries rounds, at Hockenheim and Brands Hatch, but failed to score a point in the four races he entered. Walker also made a third attempt at the renamed BP Ultimate Masters of Formula 3, but once again failed to finish the race.

World Series by Renault

Walker driving for Fortec Motorsport at the Donington Park round of the 2007 World Series by Renault season.

For 2007 Walker made the step up to the World Series by Renault with Fortec Motorsport, who were also making their debut in the series. He finished his maiden year 19th in the final standings, with the highlight being a win in front of his home crowd at Donington Park.

Despite testing for Red Devil Team Comtec during the off-season, Walker stayed with Fortec for a second season in 2008.[1] During the year, he finished in the points on nine occasions, taking a single podium in the final race of the season in Barcelona to finish 13th in the championship.

In the off-season, Walker tested for both Ultimate Signature and P1 Motorsport before joining the latter for the 2009 season.[2] He ended up fifth in the championship, winning a single race at Spa-Francorchamps.

Superleague Formula

In 2008, Walker also took part in four races of the inaugural Superleague Formula season. He raced for Rangers F.C. at the Nürburgring and then for Borussia Dortmund at Jerez, where he won the final race of the season. He will return to the series in 2010, driving for defending champions Liverpool, replacing Adrián Vallés.[3]

Sports car racing

Walker was given a drive a Porsche for J Lowe Racing in the 2010 24 Hours of Daytona,[4] but the car retired before he got behind the wheel.

Walker joined Le Mans Series team JMW Motorsport for the 2011 season. He and Rob Bell got two class wins out of five races driving a Ferrari 458 Italia, resulting runners-up in the GTE-Pro drivers and teams championships. In 2012 he won the Paul Ricard race for JMW together with Jonny Cocker, and retired at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The driver swtichted to Delta-ADR for the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship. Driving an Oreca-Nissan, he got a LMP2 class win, a fourth-place finish and a fifth, resulting 6th in the teams standings.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2002 UK Formula Ford Championship ? ? ? ? ? ? 50 17th
Avon Tyres Junior Formula Ford Championship ? ? ? ? ? ? 182 6th
2003 UK Formula Ford Championship - Scholarship Class ? ? ? ? ? ? 466 1st
2004 British Formula Three Championship Hitech Racing 24 0 0 0 0 20 18th
2005 British Formula Three Championship Fortec Motorsport 22 1 0 1 1 69 11th
2006 British Formula Three Championship Hitech Racing 21 0 0 0 3 92 9th
Formula Three Euroseries 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Fortec Motorsport 17 1 0 0 1 19 19th
2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Fortec Motorsport 17 0 0 0 1 36 13th
2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series P1 Motorsport 17 1 0 2 3 89 5th
2010 Superleague Formula Liverpool FC 16 0 0 0 0 439 10th
2011 Rolex Sports Car Series - GT Bullet Racing 1 0 0 0 0 16 57th
Le Mans Series - LM GTE Pro JMW Motorsport 5 2 0 0 2 46 2nd
2012 European Le Mans Series - LM GTE Pro JMW Motorsport 1 1 0 0 1 26 2nd
German Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2013 British GT Championship - GT3 Fortec Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 8 24th
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Delta-ADR 5 1 1 0 1 44 7th
2014 United SportsCar Championship - GTD Fall-Line Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 1 134th
European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Greaves Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 8 21st
European Le Mans Series - GTE JMW Motorsport 1 0 0 0 1 15 19th
2024 Le Mans Cup - GT3 Steller Motorsport

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points
2007 Fortec Motorsport MNZ
1
Ret 		MNZ
2
14 		NÜR
1
24 		NÜR
2
18 		MON
1
14 		HUN
1
12 		HUN
2
10 		SPA
1
20 		SPA
2
Ret 		DON
1
10 		DON
2
1 		MAG
1
Ret 		MAG
2
18 		EST
1
7 		EST
2
20 		CAT
1
15 		CAT
2
10 		19th 19
2008 Fortec Motorsport MNZ
1
7 		MNZ
2
7 		SPA
1
Ret 		SPA
2
16 		MON
1
8 		SIL
1
10 		SIL
2
12 		HUN
1
7 		HUN
2
10 		NÜR
1
Ret 		NÜR
2
13 		BUG
1
Ret 		BUG
2
9 		EST
1
Ret 		EST
2
14 		CAT
1
7 		CAT
2
2 		13th 36
2009 P1 Motorsport CAT
1
6 		CAT
2
Ret 		SPA
1
Ret 		SPA
2
1 		MON
1
3 		HUN
1
4 		HUN
2
Ret 		SIL
1
4 		SIL
2
2 		BUG
1
Ret 		BUG
2
9 		ALG
1
6 		ALG
2
8 		NÜR
1
Ret 		NÜR
2
4 		ALC
1
18 		ALC
2
9 		5th 89

Superleague Formula

2008

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 Position Points
2008 Rangers F.C. Alan Docking Racing DON NÜR ZOL EST VAL 13th 227
4 12
Borussia Dortmund Zakspeed JER 14th 218
14 1

2010

Year Team Operator 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Position Points
2010 Liverpool F.C. Atech SIL
 ASS
 MAG
 JAR
 NÜR
 ZOL
 BRH
 ADR
 POR
 ORD
 NAV
 10th 439
16 17 X 6 6 4 6 8 5 16 4 X 6 18 X 6 13 X 10 10 X

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2012 United Kingdom JMW Motorsport United Kingdom Jonny Cocker
New Zealand Roger Wills 		Ferrari 458 Italia GTC GTE
Pro 		204 DNF DNF

References

  1. ^ English, Steven (12 February 2008). "Walker stays on with Fortec Motorsport". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  2. ^ Beer, Matt (9 January 2009). "P1 sign James Walker for 2009". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
  3. ^ English, Steven (12 March 2010). "Walker signs up for Superleague". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  4. ^ "James to Race at Daytona". jwalkermotorsport.com. James Walker. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2009. [dead link‍]