Date: 08.05.11
James Walker and his JMW Motorsport team mate Rob Bell, finished
the 1000kms of Spa in seventh place today, despite fighting for the
race victory in the opening hours of the race.
Although the duo didn't repeat the win they scored at the
season-opener at Paul Ricard they again showed that the No.66
Ferrari 458 was the car to beat, fighting off stiff competition
from the top GTE-Pro teams.
Rob started the race from second on the grid after a great
performance in Friday's qualifying session.
"Rob did a great job in qualifying," said James. "The race started
well for us. The Michelins are strong at the start of the stint but
as time goes on the Dunlops hang on a lot longer so Rob was able to
catch Jaime Melo and pass him for the lead."
"He handed the car over to me in the lead," continued James. "We
lost a little time in the pits and I came out behind Melo's
team-mate, Toni Vilander. Once I got into the groove I had about
six seconds to make up before I caught him. I nearly got him going
into the Bus Stop, then got a run into turn one, made him defend on
the exit then overtook him on the run down to Eau Rouge."
In the final laps of James' first stint he had to contend with a
lot of traffic, with big gangs of LMP cars to deal with.
Rob was up next and while pushing hard he caught the kerb awkwardly
at Les Coombes, which forced him to run wide through the gravel.
"We really thought Rob had got away with it," said James. "He
brushed the wall really gently and we thought it was all okay for
five or six laps but then we saw the car was losing fluid."
Rob pitted with a cracked radiator, which took around 20 minutes to
repair. James rejoined the race but was well down the order after
losing all that time.
"These things happen in racing," said James. "The good news is that
we got a good haul of points and it felt good to catch and pass our
main competitors. Dunlop deserve a lot of praise today as they have
made the world of difference. I had a tour of their factory
last week and got to know the Dunlop family better!"
The competition know that they have a formidable opponent in James
and Rob. The battle will continue on 3 July at Imola in
Italy.