Chris Walker was born in Nottingham in on 25th March 1972. He started off in motorcross and, as an accomplished rider, only made the transition to the track around '93 - somewhat of a late start for a racer. After racing in several club championships he progressed to the British 250cc Championship in 1995 where he proved to be a race winner. 1996 saw his big break with the Old Spice Ducati team in the British Superbike Championship. The same year saw him riding Steve Hislop's bike in World Superbikes at the European round at Donington Park, finishing only behind Aaron Slight and Simon Crafar.

 

Chris began making real in-roads into BSB the next year, when he finished second in the Championship on the Cadbury's Boost Yamaha. He also picked up an impressive 47 points in World Superbikes this year as a wildcard rider. 1998 saw him move to Kawasaki and repeat his finish of second in the BSB Championship. The pattern seemed to be repeating itself when, in 1999, he finished a frustrating second once again (28 points behind Troy Bayliss).

 

The year 2000 was to prove heartbreaking for Chris. After three successive years of finishing one step shy of being Champion in British Superbikes, he headed into the final race at Donington Park with a points advantage over rival Neil Hodgson. In the final laps of the second race that day Walker was leading and on course to win the Championship, even after Hodgson had won the first race. Then disaster struck - Walker's Suzuki blew its engine with only three laps remaining. As he coasted to the edge of the track, in tears, Hodgson went on to finish the race second and win the Championship by eight points from Walker. He had finished second for the fourth consecutive year. It was of little consolation that he managed an impressive second in the World Superbikes at Donington Park and two third places at Brands, as wildcard entries.

 

A move to the two-stroke 500cc MotoGPs for 2001 provided Walker with a change of scenery, but not luck. Several crashes hampered his performance and he could only manage 12th place at the end of the season.

 

2002 saw him move full-time to World Superbikes which had provided him with some success during his wildcard entries. By the end of the season he was placed 9th in the standings with Fuchs Kawasaki. The following year he moved teams to HM Plant Ducati and improved to a final standing of 6th, including six podiums through-out the season.

 

The young Foggy-Petronas World Superbike team gained Walker as a rider 2004, where he finished the season in 11th place. A third place at Valencia, in his first race for the team, gave them their first ever podium.

 

A return to Kawasaki in 2005 (with the PSG-1 Corse team) saw Walker improve his positions again and finish the season in 7th position. In a repeat of the previous year he also secured the team's first ever podium in World Superbikes, with a third place at Valencia.

 

There were consistent top ten finishes through-out the 2006 season for Walker before he took his first ever win at Assen in sodden condition. Despite being in the gravel, and last, at the first corner he was able to pass everyone and take the team's first win, with many riders falling. Although this helped him to a ninth place Championship finish, above both his team mates, he was not retained for the 2007 season.