Second spot pleases Alex

RUNNER-UP: Alex Walker at Croft, where he missed out on InterSteps Championship glory.

MOTORSPORT:

ALEX Walker missed out on the InterSteps Championship title but secured a highly

creditable second-place finish in his first full season since switching from karts to the Fortec Motorsport car.

The 16-year-old from Shaw always faced an uphill struggle to take the overall top spot when he entered the final round of races at Croft 30 points behind leader and eventual champion Jake Dennis, who also represents Fortec.

Fifth, sixth and fourth-place finishes clinched the runners-up berth though.

Walker scored points in every race bar one — round six at Rockingham in July, when he was thwarted by a gearbox problem.

He said: “It has been an up-and-down season but it has definitely proved to be an invaluable experience and I have to be happy with second.

“In general I think it's been a good season and I've learnt a great deal which will only help me in my career, and I hope to come back even stronger and go one better next year.

"It is disappointing not to win the championship and maybe it would have been different if we hadn't lost those points at Rockingham or if other things had gone differently, but this is motorsport and you have to take what it throws at you sometimes.

“I've got the winter now to reflect on my first season in car racing season and work on certain areas that will make me a more complete driver next year."

Walker now turns his attention to Brands Hatch, where he will compete in his second Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship meeting this weekend, having come sixth and ninth on his debut.