Chipping Norton racing driver Sean Walkinshaw rounded off the first weekend of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship season at Snetterton 200 Circuit, with a hat-trick of points finishes.

In a rain-hit weekend, he managed to avoid any major incidents and conclude the season-opening event tied for 16th place in the championship standings.

His highlight performance was undoubtedly in Sunday morning’s dry second round. A terrific drive through the order into the upper midfield from 23rd on the grid, saw him finish in 13th place.

The previous day, the 18-year-old made steady progress from 22nd to take 17th position.

In the third round, Walkinshaw had to battle through a huge amount of surface water before finishing in 20th place.

He now has a six-week break from competition, with the next event of the championship, rounds four and five, set to take place on May 19-20 at Rockingham.

“I was pleased with my dry performance,” said Walkinshaw.

“There was quite a bit of overtaking and my pace was quite good. In the Friday practice sessions we set some good times so it was a shame the qualifying and racing was mainly in the wet.

“I think I did make huge steps forward in the wet, but I know I’ve still got a long way to go.

“It could have been a better first weekend of the season but it could have been a lot worse too.”