Lydia Walmsley concluded the 2024 Vertu Mini Challenge season at Brands Hatch with top-6 finishes in all three races, highlighted by a pole start, a fastest lap in wet conditions, and a strong eighth place in the overall championship standings.
Lydia Walmsley wrapped up the 2024 Vertu Mini Challenge season with a weekend of milestones at Brands Hatch. Walmsley finished race one of the weekend in a superb fifth position, before drawn onto reverse grid pole for race two.
Enjoying exceptional battles with a number of race winning drivers, Lydia ended race two in fourth while narrowly missing out on the podium. In a wet race three, Walmsley took the checkered flag in sixth position while setting the fastest lap of the race by over a second to underline her speed in challenging conditions.
Heading into the season finale at Brands Hatch, Lydia was looking to consolidate her place in the top-10 of the Vertu Mini Challenge standings, while pushing for a potential top-8 finish. It has been a breakthrough campaign for Walmsley who secured her first overall podium in the series, while consistency challenging the leading drivers.
Looking to end the season on a high, Walmsley returned to a circuit which she had enjoyed success at in the past, including earlier in the campaign where she secured two seventh place finishes on the Indy circuit.
On-track action at Brands Hatch got underway on Friday as the drivers took to the challenging Grand Prix layout. It was an extremely disrupted day of running with multiple red flags in both sessions, therefore leading to unrepresentative times throughout the field. Walmsley was able to complete 23 laps with her best time of a 1:40.186, set in session two, placing her 10th in the JCW class.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and was instantly disrupted by another red flag period less than five minutes into the session. As the drivers built up confidence during the middle portion of qualifying, Walmsley was showing good speed round the Grand Prix loop especially and sat inside the top-6 positions for the majority of the session. A further red flag brought qualifying to an early end with Lydia setting the seventh fastest time, while crucially completing the joint-least number of laps of any driver in the JCW class.
The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Walmsley lining up from seventh on the grid. It was an extremely busy start with the top-10 drivers all running nose-to-tail through first half of the opening lap. Walmsley was able to avoid contact with the drivers three-wide into Druids, while a smart move around the outside of Surtees drew her alongside Marlo Cordell. Completing the move on JamSport Racing driver into Westfield, Walmsley ended lap one in eighth position.
On lap two, a multi-car incident at Surtees instigated by contact between Nathan Edwards and Lewis Selby saw a number of cars collect damage, while Lydia took excellent avoiding action. She was able to move up to sixth position as the safety car was deployed to retrieve Jamie Osborne’s stricken car.
As the racing resumed, Walmsley held her position well before a second safety car was quickly deployed as Albert Webster had hit the barriers. The subsequent cleanup led to the red flag being displayed and the racing was unable to be resumed with Walmsley classified in an excellent sixth position, later promoted to fifth following a penalty for Selby.
As a result of her top-5 finish, Walmsley was reversed onto pole position for the second race of the weekend. This was the first time that Lydia had started at the head of the field in the JCW class of the Vertu Mini Challenge and she was determined to take advantage of this position.
Starting from pole position at Brands Hatch can be tough due to the elevation and although Lydia’s initial launch was challenging, the second phase of her start allowed her to remain in the lead as the drivers entered Paddock Hill bend.
Second place driver Dominic Wheatley was immediately applying the pressure and claimed the lead at Surtees, with Nathan Edwards also moving ahead as the drivers entered the Grand Prix loop.
Walmsley was determined to fight back and a stunning move round the outside of Stirlings saw her reclaim second position as the safety car was deployed. As the race restarted, Walmsley was defending stoutly from Edwards while ensuring Wheatley did not get away at the head of the field.
On lap five, Edwards made a move to the inside at Paddock Hill bend but Walmsley drove smartly to get the cutback and reclaim second position into Druids. At the end of the lap, Edwards got an excellent run out of the final corner and passed Lydia into Paddock Hill bend once again with Maximus Hall also following him through. Walmsley and Hall ran side-by-side into Druids with Lydia showing good aggression to maintain position.
At Surtees, Wheatley made a mistake and lost the lead with Edwards now in command of the race while Jamie Osborne moved into the runner-up position with Lydia in third. Despite losing out to Osborne on lap six, Walmsley set the fastest third sector of any driver as she fought to hang onto a podium position. The following lap saw more contact between Walmsley and Hall with the Excelr8 Motorsport driver moving ahead to claim third position.
A second safety car of the race was then deployed as debutant Harry Hickton was beached in the gravel and this led to a two-lap restart. The racing was intense as Walmsley challenged Hall to continue their race-long battle before he was able to overtake Osborne for second. Lydia made one final challenge on Osborne during the final lap before crossing the line in fourth position to secure a large haul of championship points.
For the final race of the season, the conditions were challenging with light rain falling and all drivers fitted the grooved tyres. Walmsley has proven herself to be a leading driver in treacherous conditions in her Vertu Mini Challenge JCW career to date and was looking to end the campaign on a high. Starting from seventh position on the grid, it was a challenging initial start as she dropped to eighth, however Lydia was already looking fast and poised to moved forward.
Although the race duration had been reduced to fifteen-minutes following earlier timetable delays, Walmsley was looking to make up for lost time. After coming under pressure from Marlo Cordell, the JamSport Racing driver moved ahead before Walmsley overtook Josh Porter after he had an off-track moment at Surtees. A fantastic duel with Cordell then saw Lydia move ahead on the exit of Graham Hill bend, before he found a way ahead on the Grand Prix loop.
On lap five, Lewis Selby ran wide on the exit of Clearways and this was the catalyst for Walmsley to begin an impressive march forward. Marlo Cordell entered the pits shortly after and now with a sizeable gap ahead, Lydia’s speed was exceptional.
She immediately pulled away from the drivers behind and set successive fastest laps of the race, the second of which was over one second faster than the next quickest time. Her speed in sector one was particularly impressive as Walmsley took over half a second out of the leading racers through the opening three turns.
Despite the shortened race duration, Walmsley was able to catch the leading group of drivers and mounted a challenge on Tom Ovenden. Running side by-side around the Grand Prix loop, Lydia just ran out of time to complete the move but ended the season with an excellent sixth place finish while claiming her first ever fastest lap in the championship.
Walmsley’s speed in the wet race three was superb and this allowed her to secure the fastest lap by over a second, one of the biggest margins in the history of the Vertu Mini Challenge. As a result of her strong performances at Brands Hatch where she finished all three races inside the top-6, she was able to secure eighth place in the overall championship.
Walmsley’s stay in the Vertu Mini Challenge was one of improvement where she maximised her results driving for her family run team. A new challenge awaits and Lydia will now be looking to take the next step in her motorsport career.
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