Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Alex Walker’s withdrawal from GB4 prior to last weekend’s round at Snetterton came as a surprise to many, with Elite Motorsport’s chief saying he “doesn’t understand” the decision.
Walker’s family purchased a Tatuus F4-T014 in winter, and Elite ran the car for them in the first half of GB4’s inaugural season, winning three of the first five races to grab an early points lead. But a collision during round three at Silverstone and a grid stall at Donington Park resulted in him dropping to third in the standings at the season’s halfway point.
After parting company with Elite, Walker entered his car as a privateer in last Friday’s pre-event test at Snetterton and was ninth fastest out of 10 drivers. He then withdrew from the race weekend, and his father has now advertised the car for sale.
Elite ran a sole car at Snetterton for Jack Sherwood, who moved up to fourth in the standings with a win and two third places, and team principal Eddie Ives told Formula Scout that it had been Walker’s decision to leave.
“I don’t really understand it,” he said. “I’m not going to persuade someone to carry on if their heart’s not in it and they don’t want to do it, and that’s what it got to.”
Ex-British Formula 4 racer Walker moved to GB4 despite previously saying he would not race in F4 again due to the growing budgets in the category. However GB4’s creation using first-generation cars provided a more affordable way into F4 racing.
Between his F4 spells he raced in Formula Ford 1600, and last year won eight races in the BRSCC National FF1600 championship and became Champion of Donington with Kevin Mills Racing, but left the category after two contensious collisions at the final round cost him the National title.
Following that he was a finalist in Porsche GB’s Junior shootout, although ultimately missed out the prize. He had initially planned to use his GB4 programme as a potential stepping stone into GB3.