News From The Paul Ricard Paddock #2

Jonny Cocker and James Walker at JMW

After a fallow year in 2011, following the unexpected end to his partnership with Lord Paul Drayson, it is particularly good to see Jonny Cocker back in the driving seat again. I recall celebrating his 17th birthday at Brands Hatch some few years ago, when he was on his way towards becoming the youngest-ever British GT title winner. He achieved that feat co-driving with Tim Sugden, but pipped the Yorkshireman to the honours when Tim had to miss one race through obligations elsewhere.

Time has slipped by since then and young Jonathan Cocker has acquired a reputation as well as age, and his talents were no better showcased than in the Road Atlanta round of the American Le Mans Series in 2010, when he impressively steered the Drayson Lola to victory. Having rounded off the season on such a high, it came as a devastating surprise when he was told that the 2011 programme was to be shelved, just days before the season was due to kick off. Having turned down several offers over the previous winter, Cocker was left without a regular drive for the year, and little prospect of finding one.

He hasn’t wasted the last twelve months, having worked hard to ensure that he had a good seat secured for this season. He “takes over” at JMW from the mercurial Rob Bell, and that’s a hard act to follow, but he will be co-driving with Bell’s driving partner from 2011, James Walker. The combination creates another very strong line-up in what is a highly competitive category.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be here at Paul Ricard, and particularly with such a strong package as we’ve got with the JMW Ferrari,” said Cocker. “It’s a completely new car for me, but I had a good test here earlier in the month, and I’ve been learning a lot and getting up to speed. Working with James, who’s already had a full year in the 458, has been a great help. It’s certainly a very different car to drive, compared with what I’ve been used to for the last few years, but I’ve actually found that helpful. It’s helped me to focus, and not make assumptions.”

“It’s also a great relief to know I have a full season ahead of me, as well as the possibility of a drive at Le Mans. However, I need to focus on these first few races. I believe James and I make a very strong pairing, and we have a good chance of doing well this weekend. I’m just looking forward to getting started.”

With only eight GT cars on the grid for the opening race, just three of them GTE Pro, it’s a fairly disappointing turnout, but the quality is there. “We know it’s not a very large grid,” admits Cocker, “but the level is exceptionally high. All the key players are here, the teams you’d expect to be out at the front, going for the podium, and the competition is going to be tough. It will be a difficult challenge, and finishing high here will still have meaning.”

This time last year the position for James Walker was almost the reverse. He was the new boy, coming into a team alongside an experienced veteran, and having to pick up the ropes. “I learned a huge amount from Rob, and we got on really well,” says James. “For the first few races I was a still learning, but by the time we got to Silverstone, I was near to matching his pace. That was very encouraging at the time. We also liked the car the same way, so didn’t have to make any compromises on set-up, which made things much easier. I hope Jonny and I can get on as well together this year. There’s a great team atmosphere, it’s excellent, and I think we have a package that’s going to be hard to beat.”

It was largely JMW’s efforts last year that helped to demonstrate the strides being made by Dunlop in developing a GT race tyre. “Wherever we race, whatever the weather, I think we’ll do well with the Dunlop compounds,” insists Walker. “The tyres do work better when it’s hot, but even at Spa and Silverstone last year, when we had to bear with it at the start, we always knew that the tyres would come good for us as the race developed. I think we’re going to be in an even better situation this year.”

Walker also has thoughts on the inherent quality of the grid. “The numbers may not be great, but the pace in GT is going to be very quick, and someone like Melo is always going to be hard to beat. If we can be competitive against that level of quality, then we’ll be doing well.”

Jonny Cocker and James Walker were two among several drivers who admitted their wish to see the ELMS and WEC grids combined at Spa, but we won’t know the answer to that for a few days yet.