Walker excited by switch

TOP GEAR... Alex Walker will make his Intersteps Championship debut at Silverstone this weekend.

MOTOR RACING:

KARTING whizzkid Alex Walker has completed his move to cars after joining the Fortec Motorsport team.

The 16-year-old, from Shaw, has been snapped up for the newly-launched InterSteps Championship — and will make his debut at the home of Formula One, Silverstone.

And he will hope to follow in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg, who both began their car-racing careers with the same Mygale FB02 chassis.

Walker, last year’s ABKC National KF2 vice-champion, makes his Silverstone bow on Saturday.

He got a feel for the car in a two-day test at Rockingham during the official launch of InterSteps, which caters for drivers aged between 15 and 19 years.

They will drive BMW-powered single-seaters, capable of reaching 140mph, in 20 races spread over seven weekends.

“I’m really happy with the car and how it behaves so I was able to get settled in with it in a short space of time,” said Walker.

“We’ve had a very productive two days and I’m looking forward to making my car racing debut at Silverstone.

“The InterSteps Championship is the perfect platform for me to develop my skills as a racing driver at the same time as allowing me to focus on my GCSEs.

“Of course this year will be a learning curve, but a lot of the fundamental racing skills I developed in karting will still apply, and Fortec Motorsport have a lot of experience which I’ll be absorbing as much of as I can — so I can’t wait!”

Richard Dutton, Team Principle, Fortec Motorsport, added: “We’re delighted to have Alex on board this year, and it’s always exciting for the team to see a new talent make the switch from karting to cars with us.

“In testing, he has really raised his game and was very impressive in the demonstration race that was held.”