Chipping Norton’s Sean Walkinshaw just missed out on a brace of top-ten finishes in the first two rounds at the Nurburgring, Germany.

Driving for the Campos Racing team, the 20-year-old twice finished 11th, with some mixed fortune in qualifying and in the races hampering his points-scoring potential.

Walkinshaw said: “We were close to the points, I just couldn’t get through into the top ten.

“There has been some bad luck this weekend, but our race pace has been really good, which is very positive for the season going forward.”

Walkinshaw had the 11th fastest time in race one qualifying – his lap of 1min 53.516secs only four-tenths of a second off the top six.

Before the start, he suffered a puncture, leading to an unexpected tyre change.

He made a good getaway from the start to break into the top ten, but locked up and ran wide, losing a few positions.

Moving back into 11th place, he circulated close behind Igor Urien, but couldn’t find a way past, with a developing engine issue and finished just 0.8secs shy of tenth spot.

Walkinshaw’s round two qualifying session was compromised by some set-up changes, which didn’t pay dividends, leading to him being 17th on the grid.

By lap ten, he was close to a points-paying top-ten slot, but finished 11th.