RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Following the decision made by Renault Sport to cancel the CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship for 2012, Fortec Motorsports has opted to join the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup for the 2012 season.

The Northern European Cup has enjoyed great success in recent years and has proven to be extremely competitive, counting top names such as Fortec’s Formula Renault 3.5 driver Robin Frijns amongst its racing alumni. Although Fortec has previously entered a select few rounds in the Championship, 2012 will be the first full season for the team.

2012 will be the seventh season of the NEC, which was launched in 2006, merging Formula Renault 2.0 Germany and Formula Renault 2.0 Netherlands and the organisers have already announced grids of over 20 cars for the year ahead. It has not yet been established whether all four drivers who were set to compete in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship will compete in the NEC this season, but the team will travel to Hockenheim tomorrow to take part in the second of two official pre-season tests, ahead of the season opener at the German circuit in April.

Fortec Team Principal Richard Dutton said that the NEC seemed like the most sensible option for the Fortec squad: “We’re all extremely disappointed that the UK Championship failed to attract the number of entries required and that the decision to cancel the Championship was made so close to the start of the season, particularly as the team and drivers have worked extremely hard in pre-season testing.

“Ultimately, we want to race in a competitive Championship and the NEC, with strong grids – both in terms of size and quality – seems like the most sensible option for us now. We’ve had to move extremely quickly to get the ball rolling but we’re certain that we can perform at the top level in northern Europe; we have a great, experienced team of mechanics and engineers and I have every confidence in them and we look forward to the new challenge ahead.”

Fortec finished as Team Champions in the 2011 CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 Championship, which saw Alex Lynn take the Drivers’ Championship in record-breaking style, while Oliver Rowland clinched the Runner-Up spot.

The first round of the eight-event Championship takes place at the Hockenheimring, Germany, April 19-22.

Action from the Formula Renault Winter Finals

It was announced today that the TOCA Formula Renault series has been cancelled due to low entries.

Last season had small grids, but numbers were even lower this year, and a proposed class B using the older Tatuus chassis used by FR BARC was not enough to save the series.

It’s probably too late for any other series to fill the gap in the televised package.

More news soon…

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography

Josh Webster has confirmed that he will graduate into the Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship for the 2012 season after agreeing a deal to remain with the Mark Burdett Motorsport team, for whom he drove for in the six event ‘Finals Series’ back in November.

The Team UK driver steered one of the Skegness based teams’ current Formula Renault cars to third overall in the six round ‘finals series’, which backed up his Protyre Formula Renault BARC performance as he finished as the series Vice Champion, with three victories and six other podiums from the twelve races held.

His determination and focus over the previous twelve months has seen him develop a strong foothold in single seater racing, and with the announcement that he is to graduate into the Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, he said: “We’ve been working so hard to try and put together a deal to race in Formula Renault UK this year so I’m happy we’ve been able to agree something with Mark Burdett. The team did a great job for me in the Finals Series last year and together we showed we’ve got what it takes to run at the front in Formula Renault UK.

“I have to say a big thank you to all of my sponsors, especially James Palmer of Nine Telecom, Graham McMullen and David Marsden of Admiral Managed Networks and Pas Ruggiero of Integra ICT, for continuing to support me and helping us to finalise a great drive for 2012. This is going to be such an important year for my career, particularly as I’ll be representing Team UK and the MSA, so I’ll be giving it everything.”

Speaking on behalf of the team, Mark Burdett said: “We were very impressed with Josh in the Finals Series last year, he did a very good job and the top priority for us this season was to try and sort out a deal with him. We’re delighted he’s with us, we’ve all got a great working relationship with Josh and the aim is to try and fight for the championship – that’s why we’re here!”

The Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship is renowned as one of the most important single seater categories in the world and has seen Formula One World Champions Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton race in the series during their early racing days, while fellow racers Paul Di Resta and Heikki Kovalainen also passed through the Championship en route to Formula One.

2012 sees the Formula Renault UK Championship switch to a three race weekend for the first time, moving it in line with the format that the Cooper Tires British Formula Three International Series uses.

The season gets underway at Brands Hatch, Kent over the 31 March/1 April, and the series visits Donington Park, Thruxton, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Rockingham and Brands Hatch GP as part of the British Touring Car Package. The visit to Brands Hatch GP marks the conclusion of the season, over the 20/21 October.

Photo by Paul Davies

Josh Hill, the son of 1996 FIA Formula One World Champion Damon, has joined Fortec Motorsport for the 2012 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship.

The twenty year old had his first experience of Formula Renault UK racing in 2010, when he took part in the Formula Renault Winter Series with Manor Competition before signing to compete in the 2011 main series with the team.

He proved himself as a driver to watch in 2011, as he provided some daring overtaking moves and wheel to wheel battling as he raced to seventh in the overall Championship standings.

Ahead of the six race ‘Finals Series’, Hill switched to Fortec and he impressed from the word go. He secured six pole positions out of six and he secured his maiden victory at Snetterton, which he then backed up with another victory at Rockingham. His performances in the six races marked him out as a driver to watch for 2012.

Currently, the Farnham-based driver is out in New Zealand, racing in the Toyota Racing Series as he prepares for his second full season in the Certina Formula Renault UK Championship. Hill thus far has enjoyed great success, with four podiums and a victory to his name.

Alex Fleming, Formula Renault 2.0 UK Team Manager is certain that the teams’ latest recruit will be a series frontrunner in 2012: “Josh is undoubtedly quick and has a year’s Formula Renault experience under his belt. Combined with his dedication and hard work, I’m sure we will see him develop as a regular race winner and a strong contender in 2012.”

The team are looking to build on their dominant 2011 campaign, where they took Alex Lynn to the Championship title, team-mate Oliver Rowland to Graduate Cup Glory and second in the outright Championship while they also secured the Teams’ Champions.

Brands Hatch in Kent is the venue for the opening weekend of the 2012 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, over the 31 March/1 April, with the Championship supporting the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship and the Sunday races are being shown live on ITV4 and ITV4 HD.

Photo by Paul Davies

Fortec Motorsport has today announced that the 2011 Intersteps Champion, Jake Dennis, will graduate into the Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship.

Dennis, who stepped into the Intersteps category after a glittering career in Karting, had a dominant season in his maiden car racing campaign – eight victories en route to a seventy point advantage over his team-mate and closest rival, Alex Walker.

Having secured the Championship, Dennis made the move into Formula Renault with Fortec Motorsport for the six event ‘Finals Series’, where he held his own in a mixed field but also saw a number of races end prematurely.

During the winter, Dennis has taken part in a number of tests with Fortec, both in the UK and in Europe. He has shown that he is ready for the step up into the British Touring Car Championship supporting series with the 2011 Champions.

“Having worked with Jake throughout 2011 in the InterSteps Championship, I know he has exceptional speed and the commitment to match, his results to date speak for themselves,” said Alex Fleming, the Formula Renault 2.0 UK team Manager for Fortec Motorsport.

“He was unlucky in the Finals Series but still recorded some strong results and the experience he gained will put him in a stronger position for the coming season. I’m confident that he can be fighting at the front end of the field this year.”

The opening rounds of the 2012 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship take place at Brands Hatch, Kent over the 31 March/ 1 April, alongside the British Touring Car Championship, and the Sunday race action will be shown live on ITV4 and ITV4 HD. Dennis will commence his pre season testing programme in the near future.

British Formula Ford racer Dan de Zille will compete in the 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship with reigning Champions Fortec after strong outings in the 2011 Finals Series with the team.

De Zille began racing towards the end of 2008, when, after completing his degree, he decided to follow the family tradition of racing cars and since then, Dan hasn’t looked back. The Jersey racer started racing in the ever-popular British Formula Ford Series in 2009, finishing sixth in the Formula Ford Scholarship Class, and remained in the series for two more years, with results improving steadily; de Zille finished eighth overall in the 2010 Championship, moving up to sixth and becoming a podium regular in 2011. Dan has also won four Aston Martin GT4 races, as well as finishing first in class and second overall in the Britcar 24 Hour Race in 2011.

Having opted to switch to a ‘winged’ car series for 2012, Dan took part in the Formula Renault 2.0 Finals Series with Fortec, where he gained a wealth of experience, particularly as he got to grips with the aerodynamics of the car. The 25-year-old built upon his experiences race by race and evidently put his learning into practice as his results improved noticeably over the six-round series, finishing a series best of sixth in the penultimate round of the series at Rockingham in November.

Dan is relishing the challenge ahead of him this season: “I’m very much looking forward to this season; it’s a big step up and I know I’ll be pitting myself against some serious competition both from within the team and outside. I always love pushing myself and the Finals Series was a great opportunity to get to grips with the car and hopefully we can come back even stronger for the main season. I’ll be looking to put some my wheel to wheel experience from Formula Ford to good use and hopefully surprise a few people!”

Formula Renault 2.0 UK Team Manager Alex Fleming is confident that Dan will be a strong contender in the forthcoming season:  “Dan has extensive racing experience which will undoubtedly prepare him well for the season ahead, he has adapted well to the Formula Renault car and is learning with every outing so I’m confident that he can perform well this season.”

De Zille, who is studying for a Masters Degree in Automotive Engineering at the University of Bath alongside his racing career, joins the Fortec squad off the back of an incredibly successful season for the team in 2011, with the team finishing as Team Champions, Alex Lynn clinching the Drivers’ title in record-breaking fashion, and Oliver Rowland finishing as Vice-Champion and Graduate Cup Champion in a dominant year for Fortec, which saw the team win 17 of 20 races.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography

Indian teenager Shahaan Engineer has today (7 February) confirmed that he will join reigning Champions Fortec Motorsports for the 2012 Formula Renault UK Championship, for what will be his first season of Motorsport.

Engineer made his debut with the Daventry based squad in the six round Protyre Formula Renault 2.0 UK ‘Finals Series’, and the sixteen year old will be one of the youngest and least experienced racers on the grid when the season gets underway at Brands Hatch, Kent over the 31 March/ 1 April.

To gain some extra experience and mileage ahead of the 2012 campaign, Engineer is currently competing out in New Zealand, in the Toyota Racing Series, and the campaign finishes next weekend (11/12 February) at the Manfeild Autocourse.

Once the Toyota Racing Series campaign has finished, Engineer will return to the UK to continue his preparations for the forthcoming 2012 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship season.

The youngster is looking forward to continuing the relationship with Fortec Motorsport, having secured five points scoring finishes in the six rounds of the ‘Finals Series’ with the team.

Fortec Motorsports were the dominant force of the 2011 Certina Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, as they took Alex Lynn to the crown. The team, which is led by Richard Dutton, is offer the Indian racer the best possible schooling as he looks to emulate drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen and reach Formula One and become World Champion.

“It’s fantastic to be back racing with Fortec this year in Formula Renault UK”, said Shahaan, “There’s no doubt it’s the best team in the championship and I can’t wait for pre-season testing to start. It’ll be an unbelievably tough season, it’s such a competitive championship, but by racing with the best drivers and being with the champion team I’ll be able to learn a huge amount.”

Engineer only started his racing career in 2008, when he took the UAE karting scene by storm – his first race in the Middle East Karting Cup, Engineer, who was only twelve years of age at the time – secured his first victory by six seconds, a rare margin in karting terms.

Two months later and he was making his European debut, running with the top order against experienced drivers, who were two or three years older than him. 2010 saw him move into the UK karting scene, as he moved into the Formula One Management backed Formula Kart Stars series, and his debut saw him qualify third before finishing fifth – this immediately showed his potential.

2011 saw the decision made to progress his career into single-seater racing, and he made an immediate impression on the Fortec Motorsports team during a test at the challenging Cheshire Circuit of Oulton Park. His performances were so impressive that he was advised to jump straight into Formula Renault UK, and miss out the Formula Renault BARC series, and he qualified inside the top eight in his first ever race during the ‘Finals Series’.

“Shahaan’s had a successful career in karting and his performances in the Finals Series demonstrated that he is more than capable of having a strong season with us”, said Fortec’s Formula Renault UK team manager Alex Fleming, “Although still very young, he is extremely focused and I’m sure that his hard work will pay off this season.”

Josh Hill at the 2010 Formula Renault Winter Series

Here is the entry list for the Formula Renault Winter Finals, held at Snetterton this coming weekend, and Rockingham the weekend after.   The races will include entrants from Formula Renault UK, Formula Renault BARC and the Formula Renault Eurocup teams.

2 Daniil Kyvat, Koiranen
3 Ocon Esteban, Koiranen
4 Hans Villemi, Koiranen
5 John Bryant-Meisner, Koiranen
6 Martin Rump, Koiranen
7 Stefan Wackerbauer, Koiranen
8 Geoff Uhrhane, Atech Reid GP
9 Melville McKee, Interwetten
11 Dennis Van Der Laar, Van Amersfoort Racing
12 Joao Sergio Camara, Van Amersfoort Racing
14 Josh Hill, Fortec
16 Dan Wells, Atech Reid GP
17 Nick McBride, Manor Competition
18 Hector Hurst, Manor Competition
19 Dan De Zille, Fortec
21 Josh Webster, Mark Burdett Motorsport
22 Tomasz Krzeminski, Mark Burdett Motorsport
24 Felix Serralles, Fortec
25 Victor Jiminez, Hillspeed
26 Archie Hamilton, Fortec
27 Ivan Taranov, Antel
28 Chirag Marhotra, Antel
29 Ed Jones, Fortec
31 Joe Kibbler, Hillspeed
33 Sean Walkinshaw, Hillspeed
34 Thomas Jäger, Fortec
39 Shahaan Engineer, Fortec
41 Jake Dennis, Fortec
42 Jordan King, Manor
44 Oliver Rowland, Fortec
66 James Fletcher, MGR
99 TBA, MGR

Pic: Norwich Photo

Formula Renault is considering whether to introduce a class B and to re-introduce the older Tatuus designed cars, possibly designated Formula Renault Junior.

The Tatuus FR2000 was produced for 10 years (2000-2010) with minor updates to engine, electronics and bodywork and is the most successful modern era single seater with almost 1000 examples produced and run in many championships around the world.    It is comparatively easy to update an older car to a later specification and spare parts are readily available.

For the 2010 season, Renault switched suppliers and the new car was designed by Barazi-Epsilon.   Whilst the 2010 car was more advanced, the move has not been entirely popular, with complaints over the large increases in spare parts prices and shortages of vital components.   Grid numbers have dropped in the UK with typically 14 cars entering.

Introducing a Class B category would allow graduates from the Formula Renault BARC championship to enter the senior series without having to invest in a brand new car and the learning period which follows.   Formula Renault BARC uses the Tatuus cars but BARC racers are restricted to three sets of gear ratios – short, medium and long and their cars are fitted with a mandatory air restrictor which reduces power.

Whilst some commentators are thinking this could be the death knell for the BARC series, I don’t think that it would, and it would certainly give the TOCA series a much needed boost.  Currently BARC rules which also limit testing prior to the event would mean that someone couldn’t contest both series, unless the BARC championship visited a particular circuit first.

Pic: Norwich Photo

To say that Jordan King took a giant leap forward at Snetterton in the sixth round of the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship would be something of an understatement, and despite being cruelly denied the breakthrough triumph he so palpably deserved, the talented young Warwickshire star proved that he is indubitably ‘ready to win now’.

Whilst Snetterton revived Formula Renault UK from its summer slumber, Jordan had kept himself race-sharp and fighting-fit over the long seven-week hiatus with appearances in the FIA Formula Two Championship – stunning with a top five finish as the youngest driver ever to compete in the series’ modern era – and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup.

Although he might have benefitted from less testing than his rivals around Snetterton’s super-fast new 300 layout due to a ‘hare-raising’ incident there several weeks earlier – one that did for the hapless hare, and did Jordan’s Manor Competition single-seater few favours, either – the highly-rated Stoneleigh-based speed demon arrived in optimistic mood, and promptly lapped sixth and second-fastest during Friday’s two practice sessions.

“It was good to keep my eye in during the break, and the Northern European Cup in particular had helped me to get my mind back into driving and understanding a Formula Renault again,” he reflected. “Snetterton is a lot longer now, and more of a challenge because of that. I enjoyed the 300 layout; there’s a lot more to it than there used to be, and that makes the lap time harder to come by. The goal was definitely to come away with two podium finishes, and I felt confident we could do that.”

That extra challenge evidently posed few problems for Jordan during qualifying for race one, and with his car on-form, so too, clearly, was he. Outwardly targeting a top five starting spot but secretly eyeing the top three, the BRDC Rising Star exceeded his expectations with second place – and then when the pole-sitter found himself demoted to the rear of the field after his car transpired to be underweight, P2 became P1.

“I was already pretty pleased with second,” he confessed. “There was still more time to be found, so we knew the speed was certainly there – but to be promoted to pole position was a real psychological boost. With it being so difficult to overtake in Formula Renault, starting from pole is a massive advantage – you can control the race so much more easily.

“I wasn’t really thinking about anything whilst I was sitting on the grid; I was concentrating on getting a good start and doing a good job, so I just blocked everything else out and remained focussed on what I needed to do. I got a good start when the lights went out, and after that, I was able to manage the gap throughout the race.

“There were a few times when Alex Lynn behind got close enough to perhaps have a think about doing something, but I always felt in control; he definitely put me under pressure, but I was comfortable in what I was doing and towards the end, I actually began to edge away a little bit – without even having to push 100 per cent.

“I was thinking, ‘we can really do this’, and I was just concentrating on hitting all my braking-points and doing everything right – but then I think Lynn’s exhaust broke, which gave him more power and therefore more performance and he was able to get back onto me again.

“He was more than 3mph faster down the straights and towed up behind me, and on the penultimate lap, he decided to go for a bit of a lunge. Just as I was about to turn in at the end of Bentley Straight, I had a quick glance in my mirror and saw him diving up my inside. He was partly on the grass, so I delayed turning to give him a little bit of room to back out of it, but he didn’t and his front wheel hit my back wheel and spun me round.

“I was really surprised that he had tried to pass me into that corner, particularly with such a half-hearted attempt. Given he has such a big lead in the championship, he could have settled for a safe second place and still gained points on the two drivers chasing him.

“I was so disappointed that we didn’t get the result we should have done. We were the quickest on the track, and we should have won. The only consolation was a new lap record, which was certainly an achievement and at least proved we had the pace and are making real progress.”

That much is indisputable, and whilst stewards agreed with Jordan – fining Lynn for his indiscretion and putting points on his licence – that did not give the Princethorpe College AS-level student back what had so cruelly been snatched away from him as it was right within his grasp.

On the positive side, the manner in which the 17-year-old car racing rookie had led throughout like a seasoned veteran, maturely soaking up relentless race-long pressure – with Lynn never more than a second behind and on occasion breathing right down his neck – was encouraging indeed, as Jordan betrayed no nerves in the slightest, controlling proceedings beautifully and never looking in any danger of cracking. Unfortunately, the weekend’s second encounter would similarly end in disappointment – and again, through no fault of his own.

“I made a decent start and held position in sixth,” he recounted, with incorrect tyre pressures for the lower track temperatures in the second qualifying session having left him down on the third row of the grid, “but then on lap two, Olly Rowland came up the inside of me from a long way back. He didn’t make the corner and went straight on – and he took me with him.

“I lost four places through that, and because I had gone off the track, I had lots of dirt on my tyres, too, so I ended up in a fight and dropped to 12^th. I managed to battle my way back through to eighth, but the general driving standards over the weekend were pretty appalling, to be honest – there were some crazy overtaking moves being pulled out there.”

A better fastest lap time than race-winner Lynn once more went to underline what might have been, and Jordan’s final tally bore no reflection on his pace. Had he won race one, the Hugo Boss brand ambassador would be up to sixth in the championship; as it is, he is eighth, but he will carry his confidence through to the remainder of the campaign.

After offering a glimpse of what he is capable of by running second at Thruxton and subsequently claiming his maiden podium finish at Croft, Snetterton has now has concretised that promise. Jordan King is unquestionably a Formula Renault UK race-winner in-waiting.

“The potential is there,” he concluded. “We just need the cookie to crumble slightly more our way next time – but we’re definitely ready to win.”

Photos: Jakob Ebrey

King shines through the spray for maiden Formula Renault UK podium

He had been threatening this kind of result for some time, truth be told, but the accomplished manner in which Jordan King artfully achieved his breakthrough podium finish in the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship at Croft suggests it will be far from his last.

Having challenged right up at the front at Thruxton two rounds earlier, Jordan then endured a ‘nightmare’ at Oulton Park – struggling for speed in one of the races and finding himself caught out by a puddle whilst well-placed in the other – meaning he travelled to Croft determined to make amends.

A self-confessed fan of the North Yorkshire circuit’s tight, twisty and technical nature, after lapping encouragingly quickly during practice, the highly-rated Warwickshire star headed into qualifying in optimistic mood and ready to ‘put it all together’.

Unfortunately, the first session in wet conditions would swiftly degenerate into a disaster, as whilst the tyres on Jordan’s Manor Competition single-seater were at their peak immediately, the track was not. The upshot was 12^th and last place on the starting grid for the opening encounter – by which time the circuit had dried out – and a couple of subsequent issues failed to make matters any easier.

“The clutch broke at the start, which meant I didn’t get away properly,” revealed the talented Stoneleigh-based speed demon. “I lost a lot of time there, and it was disappointing that I couldn’t gain any ground through the first few corners, but I soon latched onto the back of the pack and when two drivers ahead ran a bit wide, I gained a couple of places.

“Later, I managed to get one of my team-mates up the inside into the hairpin, but then my steering column broke as well which made the car horrible to drive. There was no feeling, and I was having to hold the steering wheel up instead of it being in a fixed position – it was constantly moving about in my hands! That was probably the biggest issue I’ve ever had to deal with during a race, and it restricted me to ninth place at the end; without the problems, I’m pretty sure I could have got past the group just ahead, which would have put me sixth.”

Only three seconds adrift of P6 at the chequered flag and with a fastest lap time better than all three of the drivers directly in front of him, the results sheet ably bore out Jordan’s conviction, and he would begin race two from ninth, after the elements had once more conspired against him in qualifying.

With precipitation in the air and anticipating a downpour, the BRDC Rising Star ventured out on-track immediately and laid down an early benchmark, but then the rain unexpectedly stopped and other drivers who had gambled on waiting were able to lap faster as Jordan’s tyres had passed their best. Had the heavens not relented, he would likely have ended up on pole position. As it was, he was back on the fifth row.

“At the start, I got past Josh Hill up the inside into the first corner, but because that left me on the wet line, I got a slow exit and lost a bit of time to the group in front,” the 17-year-old recounted. “I also got a hit from behind going through the second corner, but whilst that bent the floor of the car slightly, fortunately it didn’t seem to affect its performance.

“The drivers ahead then got into a bit of a squabble, and on the exit of Tower Bend I managed get past one of them, which moved me up to seventh – and on the next lap, someone else ploughed straight into the tyres at the chicane which meant I was sixth.

“I then caught the group fighting over third, and as I got onto the back of them, there was a coming-together between a couple of them into the last corner and I was able to out-drag them both on the exit. I pulled away

and focussed on trying to catch the drivers in second and third, and one of them went off in front of me as the rain started falling again.

“When that happened, we seemed to find the grip immediately whilst everyone else was still looking for it, and that enabled me to get on it pretty quickly. You can’t just throw the car about in those conditions – you can manhandle a kart in the wet and use the weight of your body to move it around, but because a car is so much bigger, you have to take it a bit more cautiously.

“I kept putting myself in the right place at the right time, made a few moves on people and put pressure on when I needed to – and that meant the gaps opened up. We had the pace, and once I was in third, I started closing on the driver ahead by about a second-a-lap.

“There was quite a big gap but I thought I had a chance, until I made a small mistake which sent me briefly sideways. If I’d needed points to fight for the championship or something like that, for sure I’d have kept on pushing to try to catch him, but I’m not in that situation so I decided to slow it down a little and settle for third.”

Wisely deeming that with grip levels at a distinct premium, discretion was indeed the better part of valour, Jordan belied the fact that he is one of the youngest drivers in the field by maturely keeping his head in treacherously slippery conditions that caused many of his more experienced adversaries to lose theirs.

Positive that he could have done exactly the same in the dry, the fastest lap of the Graduate Cup contenders – better than that of the driver he had been chasing down – clearly confirmed his raw speed. The fact that he was a touch disappointed to ‘only’ be third simply underlined his burning motivation – but he has nonetheless palpably earned the respect of his rivals, who are really sitting up and taking notice of Jordan King now.

“It was a little frustrating we couldn’t have done it from the front, but it’s a different achievement coming through from the back,” the Princethorpe College student reflected. “We had a few problems over the course of the weekend, so to get my first podium in Formula Renault UK was a really good outcome at the end of it. Hopefully it will be the first of many, and we can take that confidence on to the next round.”

Before that, however, Jordan has a little bit of history to make, when he becomes the youngest driver ever to start a race in the current era of the FIA Formula Two Championship around legendary Belgian Grand Prix circuit Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. After lapping an impressive eighth-quickest during testing at Snetterton earlier this month, he is bullish about his prospects.

“It’s good to go into a different championship having proven the speed is there,” affirmed the Hugo Boss brand ambassador in conclusion. “The top ten is the aim, I think it’s doable – and I’ll definitely be giving it a go!”

To keep up-to-date with Jordan’s latest career news and results, please visit: www.jordanking.co.uk

Pics; Jakob Ebrey

‘Dream’ new team debut for Hawksworth with breakthrough car racing victory at Croft

Jack Hawksworth enjoyed what he described as an ‘absolute dream’ debut with his new team in the fifth outing of the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship on ‘home’ turf at Croft, by storming to his breakthrough car racing victory – a result that he admitted left him feeling somewhat ‘overcome’.

Off the back of a relatively successful start to his maiden full campaign of car racing competition with Mark Burdett Motorsport – claiming a brace of podium finishes from the opening eight races – Jack switched camps to Atech Reid GP following Oulton Park, with his primary motivation stemming from the desire to have a fast, experienced Formula Renault UK front-runner to gauge himself against inside the same team.

“From having observed them during the season, I liked the way they worked and their approach to everything,” revealed the highly-rated young Bradford-based speed demon, palpably impressed by Atech Reid GP’s facilities and professionalism. “They had been consistently up there and on the pace right from the opening round, and the main thing really was having the opportunity to measure myself against Tio Ellinas.

“My team-mate at Mark Burdett was a quick guy, but he didn’t have the experience in Formula Renault, whereas Tio is quick and does have the experience – on average, he’s been the championship leader’s closest competitor this year. When there are two drivers always at the front, you can push each other along and learn and improve from each other; one of you might be doing something better in one corner, the other in another.

“There were a few nerves on Friday at Croft – I knew a lot of people were questioning my move and that if I didn’t pull it off, that was me effectively done-and-dusted – but in general, I settled into the team pretty quickly, I think. They’re a really good bunch of lads at Atech Reid GP.

“During practice, it was just a case of getting to know everyone’s names and how they all worked. It took me probably the first day to get my head around everything and there were inevitably some small teething issues with a car that hadn’t been run for quite a while – but once we had ironed them out, we managed to improve its performance and when we all got onto the same page in terms of working together, we felt ready for the next day.”

Whilst Croft – a tight, twisty and technical track close to Darlington in North Yorkshire – may be Jack’s ‘local’ circuit of sorts, it is far from his favourite, but that did not prevent him from utterly dominating a wet opening qualifying session in which car control and raw talent truly came to the fore to clinch a superb pole position, his first of 2011 and a crucial advantage given the difficulty of overtaking in Formula Renault UK.

Laying down a marker early on in the session, the Cullingworth-based hotshot then went and lowered the benchmark again to put pole beyond doubt, and praising a ‘perfect’ car, he felt he could have gone even faster still. Unwilling to count his chickens too soon after similarly looking to be on-course for the top spot at Oulton Park only to be pipped by just a few hundredths of a second right at the close, this time Jack would not be denied, as none of his rivals could get to within a third-of-a-second of his scintillating effort.

“It was dry for race one, but I wasn’t worried as I knew I had track position and a decent car underneath me, so it was all about making sure I kept my head and got the job done,” he maturely reasoned. “I’ve got a lot of experience in racing and I knew I was on top form, so I wasn’t really fazed by any of it – it was up to the others to take the risk to try to pass me.

“I got an absolutely storming start off the line, and Tio leapfrogged Alex Lynn to move into second. I was under a little bit of pressure through the opening corners, but I managed to keep it all under control. The car felt awesome, and over the first few laps, I was able to build up a small gap back to Tio and I felt like I was dictating the pace.

“It did get a little more difficult over the second half of the race, as I picked up a bit of understeer when the tyres went away. That enabled Tio to close in again towards the end, but it’s so hard to overtake in these cars, and I just had to concentrate on not making any mistakes and making sure I got good exits from the corners.

“I was nervous for the last few laps – I kept wanting the pit board to say just one to go – and when I came across the line, it was a sense of relief more than anything. I worked so hard for this season and set my targets high; I had wanted to get the win earlier than this, but to finally take that step from podium-challenger to race-winner was a huge boost and lifted the pressure off my shoulders instantly.

“It was definitely a risk pitching myself against Tio the way I have done, but it was great to be able to pinpoint myself as one of the strongest drivers in the championship. I was a bit overcome with it all up on the podium – it felt brilliant! I couldn’t have asked for a better debut with Atech Reid GP than getting pole by almost a third of a second and then winning my first race with the team, with Tio making it a one-two. The guys were all over-the-moon – they did a great job and they deserved the result. It was just perfect – an absolute dream start.”

That it indubitably was, and the victory – in only Jack’s 15^th car race – established the 20-year-old as one of just three drivers to have triumphed in Formula Renault UK this year, with fastest lap making it even sweeter. Unfortunately, traffic issues and a touch of unexpected understeer scuppered his efforts to make it two pole positions out of two in the second qualifying session, but convinced he still had the pace to challenge right at the front, he set his sights on a rostrum finish from sixth on the grid.

“I got a good start to move up to fourth by the first corner, but then I caught a damp patch coming out of the chicane and ran wide onto the grass, which dropped me back to sixth,” recounted the former national and international karting star. “I had to be quite brave in my defence to not lose another position, but our pace was really good after that.

“I got up to third, and then the rain began to fall and the conditions worsened. I was so much quicker than the driver in second – I was actually lapping the fastest of anyone at the time – and I was pushing like hell to try and catch him, but then I made a fatal error at the chicane, hit the kerb and the suspension collapsed. It was a bad mistake and I won’t be making it again – I was just pushing too hard for the conditions because I was so determined to get second place.

“Looking back now, I should have settled for third, but hindsight is a great thing – and it’s difficult to tell yourself to calm down when you’re out there on-track and rapidly closing in on the driver ahead! I felt like I could definitely have had a go at him. I was disappointed with myself for making that mistake – I want to be the perfect driver and not put a foot wrong anywhere – but otherwise, it was a really good weekend.”

That much is indisputable, and Jack was in fairness one of many to get caught out by the elements in what he conceded was an ‘absolutely crazy race’. The second-fastest lap time – beaten only by the winner – was further evidence of his potential, and the Yorkshire ace now heads into the summer break sitting fourth in the title standings, just ten points adrift of third place and – on dropped scores – 37 shy of second. Better still, next up is Snetterton, scene of his car racing bow last November – and an outstanding pole position first time out.

“I had been treating Croft just as a gelling weekend with the team, to be honest,” he confessed, “so that we could go into the seven-week summer break and return at Snetterton in-shape to really hit the ground running and start winning some races – but it ended up being a massive success. It was a bit of a surprise to win so soon, obviously, but credit to everyone involved, and also to Mark Burdett Motorsport – I couldn’t have done it without all the knowledge I gained with them in the Winter Series and over the first four rounds of the season.

“I’ve settled in nicely and I feel really comfortable at Atech Reid GP already, and we’re all working together well. We’re only going to get stronger-and-stronger, and now I feel we can go to Snetterton and continue this form and keep on going for wins.”

To keep up-to-date with Jack’s latest career news and results, please visit: www.jackhawksworth.co.uk

Pics: Jakob Ebrey

King hails ‘massive improvement’ at Thruxton with podium-challenging pace

Jordan King took what he described as ‘a big step forward’ in the third outing of the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship at Thruxton, by vying for pole position in qualifying and battling for the podium in both races.

Jordan headed to the high-speed Hampshire circuit in confident spirits, and keen to rev his maiden campaign of car racing firmly into life after tallying a best starting and finishing position of sixth from the opening two rounds. Having displayed flashes of genuine potential at Brands Hatch and Donington Park, the talented young Warwickshire star would really accelerate things up through the gears at Thruxton, with what was by far his most competitive weekend in Formula Renault UK to-date.

“We had been quick there in testing, so I was feeling pretty happy with everything and aiming to get a couple of decent results out of the weekend – because we haven’t really had any yet this season!” he quipped. “I love the circuit, mainly because it’s just so fast – you’re doing about 155mph down the back straight with quite a bit of grip, and it’s the first track we’ve been to this year where overtaking is really possible if you get a good run on the driver ahead. It’s perfect for Formula Renault UK.”

Lapping an outstanding second-quickest in both practice sessions proved that Jordan had the pace to be right up at the sharp end of the action – and he carried that superb form over into the race weekend itself, even if his efforts in qualifying would be scuppered by an errant rival.

“On my last lap in session one, I was quickest through the first sector and it was all looking good,” the 17-year-old recalled. “I only had the final chicane to go and I would have been on pole, but Olly Rowland had spun and stopped at the exit of it, and with the yellow flags out, I had to lift off and go round him, which cost me three tenths of a second.”

The data bore witness to the fact that had Jordan been able to complete the lap, he would have been comfortably on pole position; as it was, he just missed out by a scant six hundredths of a second, what he acknowledged was ‘very positive’ and ‘a massive confidence boost’, if understandably ‘extremely annoying’ at the same time. Race one would follow a not dissimilar pattern.

“I made a good start and got around the outside of the pole-sitter, Alex Lynn, but then I had a problem with the gearbox shifting up from fourth to fifth, which cost me a bit of time,” related the Stoneleigh-based speed demon. “I lost half-a-car’s length, which allowed Lynn to edge back alongside me and left me on the outside for the first chicane, and with Tio Ellinas following Alex line-astern right behind, I had nowhere to tuck into and slipped to third.

“I then got a really good run on Ellinas going down the back straight and pulled alongside, but he just sideswiped me onto the grass. That spun me round, and I came back onto the track facing the wrong way. It’s pretty scary having cars coming directly towards you at more than 150mph and I was just praying for no-one to hit me, and fortunately nobody did.”

With a damaged undertray on his Manor Competition single-seater, the BRDC Rising Star soldiered gamely on but was so far behind that he was never going to make any discernible progress in such a fiercely-competitive field. Confessing to being ‘very disappointed, given that we had been quick enough to get a podium at the very least’, the fact that his assailant got punished with points on his licence and a fine was in truth little consolation and did not give Jordan back what had been taken away from him.

Aiming to put it behind him in race two, the Princethorpe College student took the start from P5 after putting a wheel onto the grass on his fastest lap in the second qualifying session – and again, his raw speed was in evidence right from the word ‘go’.

“I moved up to third straightaway, which was good,” he recollected, “and shortly afterwards I got onto the back of Rowland in second and managed to pass him into the chicane – I went up the inside and ran him out wide on the exit – but then I just made a real schoolboy, amateur mistake and spun, which dropped me right down the order. Looking at the lap times afterwards, we were definitely quick enough to have held onto second place, and we may even have been able to challenge for the win…”

Just tenth at the chequered flag but with the third-best lap time to his name despite spending the rest of the race fighting through traffic, Jordan might have berated his ‘schoolboy’ error, but then it is easy to forget given his rapid acceleration up through the motor racing ranks that he is still just a schoolboy, and indubitably one of the least experienced drivers on the 2011 Formula Renault UK grid.

With that in-mind, his development thus far has been truly remarkable, and as he assures that he will not be making the same kind of mistake again, the Hugo Boss brand ambassador will head to the next meeting at Oulton Park in Cheshire buoyed by his form at Thruxton and eager to keep his impressive momentum going.

“It was another frustrating weekend in terms of results, but we had the pace to be on pole and to fight for the podium, which was a massive improvement over the previous couple of meetings,” he concluded. “It was a shame that we were unlucky in the first race and that I made the mistake in the second, but there were lots of positives, too. Everything came together at Thruxton – we all seemed to work in a much more structured manner inside the team, and we made progress all the way through. We definitely took a big step forward.”

Pics: Jakob Ebrey

Jack Hawksworth admits that he ‘really wants to start winning now’ after finally unlocking the potential of his Formula Renault UK single-seater during the second meeting on the 2011 calendar at Donington Park – what he described as a ‘turning-point’ in his season.

Having been plagued by ill-fortune during winter testing and illness over the curtain-raising weekend at Brands Hatch, car racing rookie Jack headed to Donington eager to prove a point – and score several – and even if he conceded to underperforming a touch in qualifying, still, fourth and third positions on the grid for the two races left him very much in the hunt.

“I was a lot more confident than I had been at Brands Hatch,” affirmed the talented young Bradford speed demon. “I was feeling much better, for a start, and we were optimistic that we would be able to step it up and do a better job than we had done there.

“I’d never been to Donington before, but it’s a nice track and all medium and high-speed corners – it’s a lot of fun to drive on an all-out qualifying lap! There are a lot of gradient changes, which I like, and it’s quite on-the-edge. It’s challenging, but I gelled with it pretty quickly and we were second-quickest in the first practice session.

“I expected a little bit more from the first qualifying session, if I’m honest; we didn’t have the pace we thought we were going to have, so we changed a few things set-up wise for second qualifying and the team did a really good job. Those changes took us in the right direction and the car felt a lot better.

“Unfortunately, I made a couple of mistakes on my quickest lap which probably cost me second place, but I was much happier with the car, and everything was just night-and-day compared to Brands Hatch. We were right up there with the top guys, and we knew we could do even better on Sunday.”

A mere quarter-of-a-second adrift of the benchmark on both occasions, Jack’s pace was encouraging indeed, and the opening encounter would represent what he acknowledged was a genuine ‘turning-point’, as a relentless charge over the second half of the race – during the course of which he set a new lap record around the Leicestershire circuit – brought him to barely four hundredths of a second shy of the podium at the chequered flag, less than the blink of an eye.

“We changed a few more things and made a big step forward on Saturday night,” the 20-year-old explained, “and suddenly, everything we had been aiming for and how I had imagined the car should be, all came together. I was able to drive the way I wanted to drive and the way the team wanted me to drive – everything was just so hooked-up.

“Unfortunately, my start wasn’t great, and it’s so hard to overtake around Donington in Formula Renault – but our pace was really good in the race, and I very nearly got Olly Rowland for third across the finish line. He started to back off over the last lap, and once I saw that, I really ramped up the pressure to see if I could force him into a mistake and make him crack. He then overshot the last chicane, which allowed me to get a great run on him along the pit straight and pull alongside.

“It was a shame the finish line wasn’t just a little further down the straight, because if it had been, we would have got the position – but in truth, it’s so early in the championship that there’s not a massive difference in finishing third or fourth.”

Comfortably the fastest man on-track at the end of the race, the progress from Brands Hatch – when Jack had been in the region of half-a-second off the pace – was palpable, and race two would yield a similarly impressive performance, albeit one hindered early on by a mystery car problem.

“I made a really good getaway off the line,” recounted the Cullingworth-based hotshot, “but Alex Lynn tried to squeeze me onto the grass – he left me absolutely no room at all, so I had to come off the throttle; at this stage of the season, you can’t really afford to have a DNF, so I backed out of it. I then settled down into a rhythm in third place and was right up behind Lynn for a while, but even in the first few laps, something felt wrong.

“I knew we were in trouble because we didn’t have any speed coming off the corners, and that gradually got worse – the car just felt so slow. By lap six or seven it was really bad and my pace was horrendous, which gave Rowland the chance to get close to me and as I turned into a right-hander, I saw him coming really quickly in my mirrors.

“I didn’t put up too much of a defence, because it wasn’t worth risking losing valuable points with an accident. He was never going to make the corner as it would have been impossible for him to stop at that speed, so I moved to the outside of the track and he went straight on, but that forced me onto the grass, too.

“Then bizarrely, later in the race I had another slight bump across the grass, and when I came back on the car seemed to have cured itself. Everything lit up and it was flying again – we were suddenly three tenths quicker than the race leader! We were able to set some really rapid lap times after that, which is promising, because it shows that the pace is there when everything is working properly – that’s the most important thing.”

With his delays restricting the Mark Burdett Motorsport ace to just fourth at the flag, he subsequently found himself elevated to the runner-up spot by a double disqualification ahead, leaving him a challenging third in the title chase, just 20 points off the championship lead and a mere three markers away from second – a two-place improvement on his standing going into the weekend.

For a driver so inexperienced in cars – it is easy to forget, given his eye-catching pace and prowess, that Jack is still only ten races out-of-karts – that is noteworthy indeed, and having been so peerlessly consistent thus far, the next goal is to break his duck by notching up his maiden Formula Renault UK victory.

“There are a lot of positives to take away from the Donington Park weekend,” reflected the ultra-successful former international karting star. “We had a lot more pace than we were able to demonstrate in the races; what we did on Sunday, we needed to have done on Saturday – and then it would have been a different game. We were matching the top guys all day Sunday, and we know how to unlock the pace in the car now, which should work for us everywhere and stand us in good stead for the remaining races.

“Next we go to Thruxton, which is a ridiculously quick track! There are plenty of opportunities to overtake, too, which should make the races more interesting. What we need to make sure is that on Saturday at Thruxton, we are where we were at Donington on Sunday. It’s all about qualifying, because in Formula Renault, everything becomes a lot easier once you start qualifying on pole – but now that I know what I need in order to do the lap time, we can work towards that every single time we hit the track.

“I’ve set my targets high – I’ve not come into this thinking of it as a learning year. There’s only one aim, and that’s to win the championship – and I’m working as hard as I can to make that happen. We’ve had consistent results in all the races so far, so the next step is really to shift it up a gear and put all the pieces together. At Donington, we were so much better than at Brands Hatch and genuinely in the ballpark, but I really want to start winning races now – and I’m pretty confident we can do that in the next two rounds.”

To keep up-to-date with Jack’s latest career news and results, please visit: www.jackhawksworth.co.uk

Pics: Jakob Ebrey

King takes early lead in Graduate Cup as he forecasts a ‘promising’ season ahead

Following an encouraging first weekend to the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship during which his results palpably failed to reflect his evident potential, Graduate Cup leader Jordan King has declared himself bullish about his prospects for the remainder of the season.

As he embarks upon his maiden full campaign of car racing this year, Jordan headed to Brands Hatch feeling very well-prepared off the back of an extremely solid winter testing programme, towards the end of which he had rarely featured outside of the top three. He was, he acknowledged, fired-up and ready to roll.

“Going into the race weekend, I was feeling confident after testing that we would be quick,” confirmed the talented young Warwickshire star. “Although it is a comparatively small grid in Formula Renault UK this year, the calibre of the drivers is very high – but I didn’t feel we had anything particularly to worry about.”

The 17-year-old BRDC Rising Star went on to underline that conviction by lapping second and fourth-fastest in Friday practice, dialling himself into Brands’ Indy Circuit layout pretty swiftly and proving to be right in the mix.

Unfortunately, a set-up adjustment ahead of qualifying on Saturday inadvertently backfired as the track conditions changed and unexpectedly went away from the Manor Competition quartet. Although Jordan caught the eye with lap times that were ultra-consistent, they were not, sadly, ultra-quick.

Confessing to perhaps not getting it all 100 per cent nailed himself, it was a combination of factors that shifted the Stoneleigh-based speed demon onto the back foot and facing a distinctly uphill battle from thereon in. With overtaking at a real premium around the short-and-tight, 45-second Indy lap bereft of any heavy-braking zones worthy of the name – and with the lack of opportunities exacerbated by the Formula Renault’s sheer aerodynamic grip – from seventh and ninth on the starting grid for the two races, Sunday would be a challenging day.

“I don’t think we collectively got everything together quite right in qualifying,” he conceded. “We made some small alterations, but they unfortunately took us in the wrong direction. The track had changed between practice and qualifying – it was a little bit ‘greener’ and greasier – and it didn’t seem to suit the car quite as well as the previous day. I was disappointed with my grid positions, and I knew the races were going to be difficult from there and that it would be tough to make up much ground.

“In race one, I got a good start and tried to go up the inside of another driver into the first corner, but I backed out of it a little bit when he started to come across on me. In hindsight, that was a mistake because it cost me time and one of my team-mates was able to get past me – and that was pretty much it as far as any action was concerned! Everybody was within a tenth of a second or so of each other, so you could be a tenth faster than the driver ahead, but you were never going to get past.

“In the second race, the driver directly in front of me stalled on the grid and I had to go round him, which slowed me down and meant I couldn’t attack anybody into the first corner. Then going into Druids, the driver ahead had left the door open so I went to the inside, but he quickly closed the door again which left me trapped. One of my team-mates managed to get around the outside, which put him on the inside line for the following corner – so after all that, I ended up finishing where I had started!”

In what were in truth a brace of entirely insipid encounters with nary an overtaking manoeuvre in sight, Jordan took the chequered flag respectively eighth and ninth, but competitive lap times – fifth-quickest in race one and sixth-fastest in race two – hinted that his outright pace had been far greater than his finishing positions suggested. Nonetheless, the results were enough to place the Princethorpe College student seventh in the early title standings and best-placed ‘rookie’ as the leader of the Graduate Cup.

“Our speed in the races was actually very good,” he affirmed. “It’s just so hard to overtake around a circuit like that, and as it’s such a short lap, you can’t really do very much. It was good experience to get under my belt, though, which I can take forward to the next meeting.

“I’m happy that we’re in the ballpark pace-wise – we didn’t finish where we did due to a lack of speed – but I was just so disappointed that qualifying didn’t go well, because that meant we weren’t able to show what we could really do. It was a shame that we couldn’t convert our potential into at least a top five finish, because we were definitely fast enough to do that – but it’s looking promising for the rest of the season.”

As he focuses his attentions now on seconds-out, round two at Donington Park later this month, the Hugo Boss brand ambassador is targeting a top five qualifying performance and at least one podium finish. On the evidence of their form at Brands Hatch, it is a goal that Jordan and Manor look eminently capable of achieving.

To keep up-to-date with Jordan’s latest career news and results, please visit: www.jordanking.co.uk

Pictures: Jakob Ebrey

Determined Hawksworth salvages podium finish from trying weekend

Jack Hawksworth endured a trying time of things in the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship curtain-raiser around Brands Hatch’s Indy Circuit, but after racing to a gritty podium finish in what he described as being likely his ‘weakest round of the year’, he is bullish about what he can achieve ‘when we put all the pieces together’.

Jack was indisputably the standout performer of the 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Series last November, belying his total lack of prior car racing experience to jump straight in at the highest level possible in junior single-seaters and stun his adversaries with four pole positions out of six, a brace of rostrums and an excellent third place in the final standings. It was, by common consent, one of the most breathtaking debuts in recent memory.

That was followed, however, by a troubled winter’s testing campaign, disrupted by a variety of car gremlins and a couple of hefty shunts that stymied progress and left the highly-rated young Bradford speed demon on the back foot somewhat heading to Brands Hatch.

“We’d had lots of little problems that were not really anyone’s fault – most of it was just bad luck,” he reflected. “That hindered us quite a bit, as it meant we never really got a good couple of days’ testing in, which prevented us from developing our potential. We arrived at Brands looking to rectify that and hopefully move forwards.”

Acknowledging that the competition would be fierce and tipping the ‘usual culprits’ to be up towards the sharp end, the Mark Burdett Motorsport ace was nonetheless confident about his ability to mix it with the very best.

Unfortunately, recurring electrical niggles that had first surfaced during testing at Rockingham followed the team down to Kent, and Friday practice was persistently interrupted by throttle issues. Feeling unwell for good measure, the difficulties left Jack with no real possibility to refine his car’s set-up, and nervous going into qualifying – sessions that would yield sixth place on the grid for race one, and third for race two.

“We had to spend all of practice sorting the problems out, which meant we never got to dial the car into the circuit,” explained the Cullingworth-based hotshot. “We still got a lot of running in, but instead of focussing on getting everything perfect and improving the performance, we had to analyse the problems and try to fix them. That was tough, and we went into qualifying just hoping we had cured everything.

“The first session was a bit disappointing; we’d wanted to be a little bit further up than sixth, but in the circumstances, it wasn’t too bad. The good thing was that we improved the car a lot between the two sessions, so we were happy with that – we’d got ourselves into the mix. Brands Hatch Indy is a short lap, and the nature of the track means it’s always really tight in terms of lap times – you’ve got to eke every single drop of performance out of the car that you can, because just a tenth of a second really can make all the difference.”

Admitting to enjoying the challenge of Brands Hatch, but less effusive about the Indy Circuit’s nigh-on complete dearth of overtaking opportunities, Jack pointed to the importance of a good grid slot on a weekend when ‘the races were won at the start…if you qualified well you finished well, and if you didn’t, you were nowhere’.

That worked against the 20-year-old in the opening encounter as he found himself stuck in sixth position, but in the second outing, he artfully fended off sustained race-long pressure from Ollie Millroy and Will Stevens, two drivers who between them boast more than five years’ experience in car racing, whilst Jack has barely any. Refusing to allow himself to be intimidated into a mistake, it was a peerless performance and one that yielded a thoroughly well-deserved podium finish and fifth place in the early title chase, a mere three points shy of third.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel any pressure from behind – the only pressure in that race was coming from myself, to try to make the best of a bad situation,” revealed the ultra-successful former international karting star. “I didn’t feel right all weekend – I was just so lethargic. I felt really ill and tired, and I couldn’t concentrate as well as normal.

“I didn’t feel too well on Friday, so I didn’t sleep very well that night – and I think I had a few too many energy drinks on Saturday to combat that, which kept me awake on Saturday night, too! I only had four hours’ sleep, and you’re never going to be on top form after that. I felt drained all day on Sunday and I certainly wasn’t anywhere near my best, so it was just a case of damage limitation, really.

“In the end, I managed to get into a rhythm that I was happy with, and I just drove a consistent race and was able to keep Ollie and Will at bay. It was nip-and-tuck all the way through, but they never got anywhere near my gearbox and in the circumstances, I was happy to get a podium. We obviously want to be P1 all the time, but whilst the championship clearly isn’t won at the first meeting, you can definitely do a lot of damage to your chances if you have two DNFs.

“I had spent so much time on my fitness over the winter and getting in as strong a shape as possible, so for that to be spoiled by something like this was a shame, but to get a podium given the way I was feeling was a good start to the season, and now I hope we can build on that and really push forwards.

“We’ve only had two rounds so far – there are 18 more to go – and consistency will be so important. It’s so close that you’re going to have bad days, but to finish third on a bad day, I’m pretty happy with that – and it’s always nice to come away with a trophy. The team were brilliant, and a podium makes it all so much more worthwhile for everybody involved.

“We knew this would be probably our weakest round of the year in terms of pace, and we’ll be a lot quicker when we go elsewhere, especially with what we found over the weekend – when we put everything together, we should be a lot more competitive for future races.

“We’ve got quite a bit more speed to come, and next time out at Donington Park, I think we will be right up there and putting a lot of pressure on the championship leader. I’m in a very confident mood. It’s not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but if we can finish third after all the problems we had and when nearly everything was wrong, we can do a much better job at Donington when we put all the pieces together. It’ll be a different story there!”

Pics: Jakob Ebrey