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King defies tyre troubles to battle to podium finish in 2012 curtain-raiser

Jordan King battled against persistent tyre-warming woes in his first competitive outing of 2012 to come away with a podium finish in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup curtain-raiser at Hockenheim.

With no official pre-season running and having not been to Hockenheim since his maiden test there towards the end of 2011, Jordan returned to the venue not quite knowing where he would shake out in the pecking-order.

“It’s an enjoyable circuit to drive, with some tricky corners and several overtaking opportunities,” revealed the talented young Warwickshire single-seater ace. “That makes it fun to race around, and it didn’t take particularly long to settle back into it in practice. The field was massive, and the top ten were all extremely fast – most of the European front-runners were there, so it was never going to be easy.”

Be that as it may, Jordan mastered the wet-but-drying track surface during qualifying to seal third spot on the grid for race one.

“We struggled all weekend to get the tyres up to temperature sufficiently quickly, so I wasn’t able to pressurise the top two for the first few laps,” recalled the highly-rated Stoneleigh-based speed demon of the opening encounter. “After the car came on, I moved up into second but then it began to rain and the race was stopped because quite a few drivers crashed.

“We had the same scenario again with the tyres at the re-start, which meant I was unable to make any impression on the leader. I was happy to get a podium finish and good points to start the season, but just a little disappointed we weren’t able to push as early as we needed to.”

With the combination of slick tyres and a wet track surface invariably highlighting car control, Jordan excelled, revelling in the challenge and lapping less than a tenth of a second adrift of the outright benchmark. Sadly, from seventh on the grid in race two, his tyre troubles would return to haunt him.

“I made up two positions at the start into fifth, but then as I went for a move on the driver in fourth, it looked like he was going to turn in on me, so I was a little bit hesitant and that caused me to run wide, costing me a couple of places,” recounted the 18-year-old British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star and MSA Academy member. “I got one of them back when somebody ahead spun, before the safety car came out because there were a number of people off in the barriers.

“At the re-start, we then had the same problem again with the tyres, and although I was gaining on the guys in front by the end, it was too late. Fifth place represented more good points, but we had the pace for another podium.”

A succession of competitive lap times bore that out and Jordan would go on to begin the final race of the weekend from fifth place.

“I held position initially, and then passed two drivers in one corner as they were fighting,” related the Princethorpe College student. “They were both sticking tight to the inside line, so I outsmarted them around the outside to move up to third. Unfortunately, it then began raining quite heavily and I spun 100 metres before the safety car appeared.

“I had backed right off because of the change in conditions, but I must have just ever-so-slightly touched the kerb and it turned me round. Although I recovered it pretty quickly, I still lost three positions and when the racing resumed, it was difficult to overtake because there was only one dry line. I regained one place on the last lap when the driver in front of me made a mistake, but it could so easily have been another podium...”

Lapping second-quickest, the end result might not have been what Jordan had been hoping for, but it has left him fourth in the title standings heading next to Spa-Francorchamps.

“I was disappointed that we couldn’t get the best out of the car, and our tyre issues hindered us quite a bit,” he mused in conclusion. “It was frustrating from that point-of-view, but when the car was on-song, our lap times were really encouraging. Spa is a circuit that I love and one where I have raced before, so we shouldn’t be on the back foot there – and this time, the goal has to be to win!”

pic Dutch Photo Agency

King stronger for New Zealand experience 

Warwickshire’s Jordan King says that he has returned from his Kiwi adventure in the Toyota Racing Series (TRS) a ‘stronger’ driver for what lies ahead – after a victory and four podium finishes down Under.

Jordan travelled to the fifth and final outing of the New Zealand-based TRS at Manfeild locked in a fight for third in the title standings.

“After having such a disastrous first round, we were on the back foot for the remainder of the championship,” he confessed. “We clawed our way back, but we still had it all to do at Manfeild. We knew we needed a strong weekend and to come away with a really good result from there.”

Rapidly becoming a fan of the short, bumpy North Island circuit and showing particularly well in wet conditions during practice, Jordan subsequently found himself plagued by a lack of mechanical grip that neither he nor his team, M2 Competition, were able to fully overcome.

Qualifying a few tenths of a second shy of the benchmark in 14th for race one he was  undeterred and a good start saw Jordan vault up to eighth, and thereafter produced a commendable performance to retain that position all the way to the chequered flag, crossing the line as the best-placed of the five M2 Competition drivers.

After losing out in a first corner mêlée in race two – leaving him a frustrated ninth – Jordan nonetheless remained firmly in contention for P3 in the championship hunt heading into race three. What’s more, up until lap ten, that is what he looked to be on-course to achieve.

“We started eighth, and I progressed to sixth pretty quickly,” recalls the BRDC Rising Star. “Our speed was really good and I made a move on the driver ahead in fifth into the first corner, but on the exit, he tagged the rear of my car. That sent me into a spin, the engine stalled and unfortunately, I couldn’t get it going again.

“Given that my two main rivals later crashed out, if I had just finished inside the top seven, it would have been enough to take third in the championship, so that was really disappointing. I don’t think anyone in the team said anything for half-an-hour after the race – we were all just sat there in silence.”

Convinced that his pace had been more than sufficient to get the job done – “We were fast enough to be up at the front season-long,” he underlines – the frustration did not take the sheen off an otherwise overwhelmingly positive TRS experience that ended with fifth position in the final points table.

With plenty of track time and extra activities like mountain-biking, sky-diving, bungee-jumping, parasailing and white-water rafting – “The whole outdoor adventure side of things is completely up my street,” he admits – it was manna from heaven for this all-action hero, and even more importantly still, enabled Jordan to keep his hand in during the traditional winter ‘off’ season. And that, he hopes, will pay dividends when he embarks upon his principal 2012 campaign in the forthcoming weeks.

“I loved New Zealand!” enthused the Hugo Boss brand ambassador in conclusion. “The M2 Competition guys are a really good bunch of lads, and I’d love to work with them again one day. There’s a brilliant atmosphere inside the team, and they’re really professional and always gave me a great car. Overall, it honestly couldn’t have gone much better. I learned a lot, improved my starts and honed my racecraft – and I definitely feel a stronger driver for it all now.”

Pic Bruce Jenkins    

King climbs the championship table with another podium finish Down Under

Having fought back from a torrid Teretonga curtain-raiser with a podium finish second time out at Timaru and a superb lights-to-flag victory a week later still at Taupo, Jordan King has moved even further up the Toyota Racing Series title standings courtesy of another strong weekend at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.

In optimistic mood, Jordan headed north to New Zealand’s newest circuit, whose undulating, bumpy and demanding 2.6km layout is characterised by constant elevation changes, blind, cambered corners and steep, tightening drops – presenting a stern challenge to the Toyota Racing Series’ 19 competitors.

After settling himself in during practice, in a tremendously close qualifying session, Jordan produced a lap time good enough for sixth on the starting grid for race one. He proceeded to take the chequered flag in the same position, right in the wheeltracks of his Ferrari-backed M2 Competition team-mate Raffaele Marciello.

“That left me on pole position for race two,” Jordan recalled, “but unfortunately, I had a bad start and lost a place and then there was a re-start, at which I got out-dragged into Turn One. I wound up third in the end, which was still a good result and good points for the championship.”

That it was, as the 17-year-old flashed across the line less than half-a-second shy of the runner-up, in so doing cementing his fourth podium of the campaign. He would again feature right up at the sharp end in the weekend’s third and final outing, the 20-lap New Zealand Motor Cup.

“I got another bad start,” he recounted, “which we later deduced was due to my not releasing the clutch right and there being more grip on the track than expected. I was then hit from behind and dropped down to 12th place, but subsequently made two really good re-starts after safety car periods to regain a couple of positions. I made a few more back before the end of the race, and I was pretty pleased with that as the track is tight and twisty and as such, not massively conducive to overtaking.”

Seventh when the flag came down, the combination of results has moved Jordan up a spot into fifth in the championship table, a mere four points shy of countryman Josh Hill in the duel for the honour of finishing as the Toyota Racing Series’ top Brit. Even third place is mathematically within reach, meaning that with just one meeting remaining – the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild – the battle is very much still on.

“It was another tough weekend, but good to score some more solid points,” said Jordan in conclusion. “You always want a bit more, but it was nice to come away with another trophy and make progress in the championship, and our speed was certainly right there again. Let’s see what we can do at Manfeild now!”

pic Bruce Jenkins 

Hat-trick for King in New Zealand with pole, victory and fastest lap

It might have been only his third outing Down Under, but Jordan King proved that he is a fast learner by taking his first pole position in the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series at Taupo. He then coverted his qualifying position into a brilliant breakthrough victory along with the fastest lap.

Having encountered ill-fortune in the Teretonga curtain-raiser followed by a well-judged podium second time out at Timaru, Jordan travelled from South Island to North Island to the state-of-the-art Taupo Motorsport Park – a technical and fast circuit, with top speeds along the main straight approaching 145mph.

Bullish about his prospects after practice Jordan then qualified on top spot. “It was a really tough session,” he affirmed. “Midway through, I was fastest, but then other drivers went quicker as we concentrated more on our race strategy, and I had to dig really deep. The times were incredibly close, but fortunately, I managed to find the last tenth of a second that I needed to secure pole. 

“I made a great start in the first race – 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds – and then began to pull out a gap, setting a new fastest lap in the process that I later discovered was also a new lap record by more than a second. I built up an advantage of almost three seconds, and after that I chilled out a bit; it felt so good to be quick enough to be in a position to just relax and know that I still had more time in my pocket had I needed it. Crossing the line to win was absolutely mega, and my team M2 Competition were so happy.”

Jordan’s pace over the 15-lap race was impressive, and he consolidated it with a fourth place from sixth on the reverse-grid in race two and a third in race three, the 20-lap Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy in homage to the 1967 F1 World Champion. Theresults saw the 17-year-old conclude the weekend as the Toyota Racing Series’ top points-scorer moving him to sixth place in the championship.

“I had a terrible start in race two that dropped me down to ninth initially,” he recalled, “but then I fought back and overtook one driver after another as I closed the gap on the leaders. That was so much fun! I passed five cars in total over the 15 laps to finish fourth, and our speed was really good all the way through. 

“The wind changed direction before race three, though, and that caused the track conditions to change, too. Our set-up that had been so fast in the first two races didn’t quite work with the lower downforce, which meant that although I was lapping at the same pace as the top two, I wasn’t able to catch them. It would have been nice to come away with a second win from the weekend, but in the circumstances, we were happy enough with third place.”

Now he turns his attentions towards the final two meetings at Hampton Downs and Manfeild in the knowledge that he has now made his mark in the southern hemisphere and given the locals something to think about.

“The M2 boys all did a superb job again, and overall it was a fantastic weekend!” he reflected. “One of the races at Hampton Downs will be the New Zealand Motor Cup, which has been won by some of the most famous drivers in the history of the sport. It would be awesome to add my name to that trophy, too.”

Pics Bruce Jenkins

King takes well-deserved podium Down Under

Jordan King rebounded from a fruitless opening weekend in the Toyota Racing Series at Teretonga with a podium charge second time out at Timaru. The Toyota Racing Series is New Zealand’s most competitive single-seater championship, and the one-make, slicks n’ wings formula – featuring a Tatuus-designed carbon-fibre chassis with a 215bhp Toyota engine – guarantees a level playing field. That being the case, qualifying second on his debut at Teretonga saw Jordan lay down an early marker.

“I really enjoyed the track,” enthused the 17-year-old. “Even though the lap was quite short and didn’t take me particularly long to learn, it was still very demanding and posed plenty of new challenges. The level of competition is strong, too, and it was all a bit of a step into the unknown for me since I hadn’t raced against any of the other drivers in cars before. Our pace was really good in practice, though, and we put everything we learnt into qualifying and found the last extra bit that we needed.”

Bad luck in the three rain-afflicted races resulted in a two DNFs– although he did lead momentarily and set second-quickest lap,– and a solitary tenth place, far less than Jordan expected. Undeterred, the BRDC Rising Star vowed to fight back a week later at Timaru – which he duly did!

Qualifying in eighth– in front of his Ferrari-backed M2 Competition team-mate Raffaele Marciello – Jordan converted that into seventh spot in race one before improving on that result in race two.

“It was actually a very challenging circuit and it took a session to get to grips with,” Jordan recalled, “but I ended testing at the top of the timesheets. We seemed to lose a little bit of speed in qualifying, though, and combined with traffic, that left us only eighth when we should have been inside the top five or maybe even top three.

“The first race was tough, with very little opportunity to overtake; that was a shame, as our pace was easily good enough for the top five. In race two, the conditions were quite slippery and I was very quick again over the opening laps, and as other drivers made mistakes towards the end and went off, we picked up some places and wound up third, which I was really pleased about – it’s always good to finish on the podium.

“In race three, I was in fifth pretty much throughout and right up behind the gearbox of the driver ahead. On the last lap, I successfully pulled off a move on him to take fourth position, but then unfortunately I missed a downshift and ran wide, which left me sixth.”

That minor disappointment aside, the Timaru weekend was nonetheless a positive one for the Hugo Boss brand ambassador, and as he looks ahead to the remaining outings at Taupo, Hampton Downs and Manfeild, Jordan is buoyant about his prospects.

“The form we’ve shown so far is very encouraging,” he concluded, “and I think we’ve proved that our speed is good enough to win.”

Pics Bruce Jenkins