LYDIA WALMSLEY BIDS TO MAINTAIN PROGRESS WITH 2024 RETURN

Lydia Walmsley will look to build on the best season of her Vertu MINI CHALLENGE career to date after confirming her return to the JCW grid for the 2024 campaign.

The 22-year-old graduated into the JCW class with BTC Racing in 2021 following a race-winning spell in the Cooper category, before returning to the family-run outfit that has run her car for the majority of her career.

After a tricky 2022 season as the team acclimatised to the challenge of running a JCW machine for the first time, last year proved to be Lydia’s most competitive to date, with several impressive performances throughout the campaign.

Starting the year with a single JCW top-ten finish to her name, Lydia battled her way to a top-ten hat-trick during the opening weekend of the campaign at Donington Park and would take 14 top-tens in total across the 20-race season, including a new personal best of fifth at Silverstone.

She would also secure a new personal best in qualifying to reward her team – the smallest across the MINI CHALLENGE – for their efforts, and ended the year tenth in the championship standings.

On the back of her successful 2023 programme, Lydia now returns for a fourth season in the JCW class looking to maintain her forward progress, with the ultimate goal of challenging for silverware during the year ahead.

“I am extremely happy to be back on the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE JCW grid this year, and to be part of the TOCA paddock again!” she said. “Last season was hugely positive for me with several strong results, and I want to try and build on the performances I put in last season and keep pushing forward.

“I wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of my team and – of course – my sponsors, and I’m delighted to have a number of my fantastic sponsors returning for another season. I also have some new partners to announce shortly, and I know that without the support of these wonderful people, I wouldn’t be able to go out and race.

“It goes without saying that I’m looking forward to hitting the track and getting the season underway, and also to meeting up with lots of people around the paddock.”