F1 deal beckons Jersey driver

Saturday 17th October 2009, 2:59PM BST.

James Walker on the brink of becoming a Formula 1 driver

JERSEYMAN James Walker is on the brink of becoming the Island’s first home-grown Formula One driver.

The 24-year-old has been headhunted by an as yet unnamed F1 team for next year’s championship.

He has been offered the opportunity to be their number three driver. That means he would be the test driver, race in the GP2 series and step in for any grand prix if the top two were unavailable.

However, there is one hurdle which Mr Walker must still clear. In order to take up the offer, his management team must raise £3 million – and fast.

They have already raised around £1 million and have around a month to find the rest. Tim Sugden, Mr Walker’s manager for the past nine years and a professional racing driver, said that it was make or break time for the young racer.

Mr Walker is currently running second in the World Series By Renault championship.

1
sunderham

October 17, 2009 at 11:41 pm

I for one would love to see James Walker make Formula 1.I watch all the coverage of World Series Renault on Eurosport and went to see him at Silverstone earlier this year.James is a delightful person to know and is determined to succeed. So come on all you Jersey businesses dig deep and give him the chance to be a world champion for Jersey. He deserves this opportunity.

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2
J Lamborrari

October 19, 2009 at 10:00 am

Good luck to him; but £3m for the chance of a drive seems like a pretty poor deal.

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3
msilva13

October 19, 2009 at 4:28 pm

Fingers crossed for James! I’ve seen him race on several occassions and I believe that boy’s got great talent! I would love to see him in Fl next year, and racing with the big names in the years to follow! All the best James!!!!

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