Walker (leading) and Lourenco were inseparable all weekend

Jon Walker prevented another clean sweep of wins for reigning Lotus Cup Europe champion Jérémy Lourenço at Brands Hatch this weekend (15-16 August), where the pair dominated the two races on the Grand Prix circuit. The rounds were held during the annual Lotus Festival, where fans were also treated to Formula 1 demonstration runs and a huge gathering of Lotus owners and enthusiasts.

The two V6 Exiges were never more than a couple of seconds apart throughout the weekend, and Briton Walker, who claimed early honours with pole position, used all of his race experience to keep the Frenchman behind in the opening encounter. There were plenty of attacks from Lourenço, and having spent half an hour studying Walker’s form, he turned the tables in the second race to pass during the opening laps. However, the new leader ran into the gravel at Paddock Hill approaching mid-distance, and was extremely lucky to hold onto the lead, which he maintained until the chequered flag.

Behind the leaders, Belgian Gregory Rasse claimed two overall podium places, whilst the 2-Eleven class victories were shared between Frenchmen Christophe Lisandre and Jean-Baptiste Loup. England’s Matt Bartlett took the Open class spoils in the opening race, whilst Nicolas Ferrer claimed honours for France in the second.

In the Production class, Belgian John Rasse continued his clean sweep of victories, leaving Briton Jason McInulty to take a pair of second places, with the final podium place shared by Austrian Markus Nikowitsch and Belgian Thierry Hedoin. Rasse’s success means that he has stretched his championship lead over Lourenco, as the series heads to Zolder for the next round on 18-20 September.

Photos courtesy of Kevin Ritson

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