Exciting young Warwickshire karting star Jordan King had to overcome a number of obstacles in his final outing of 2009 at PF International, but he did so with aplomb to end the year up on the podium and looking in impressive form indeed for 2010.
Off the back of a superb season at KF3 level both on home turf and abroad, Jordan took the chequered flag fourth on his KF2 class debut at Shenington, but three weeks later he travelled to PF in Lincolnshire knowing he would be on the back foot from the word ‘go’, after being forced to skip the practice day due to prior commitments.
“We’ve only really had three or four days in KF2 so far,” the 15-year-old explained, “but I would say we’ve got there now pace-wise and in terms of how to drive. We had to miss practice on the Saturday, which meant we went straight into race day; that was a big disadvantage, because the other drivers had all had a whole day in both the wet and the dry to prepare and try things out, whereas we got there not really knowing anything.”
Rapid in the wet – with the rain, as ever, proving to be something of an equaliser – but struggling a little more in the dry, Jordan’s two heat races produced a mixed bag of results. A strong effort in the first of them was undone by a failure to finish – an unfortunate legacy of his Saturday absence – before the Harbury ace rebounded with third place in heat two, having grittily led early on but ultimately been forced to concede a couple of spots as he grappled with a set-up not entirely to his liking and slick tyres on a track surface that was in places still damp.“It was wet for the first heat and we were really quick,” recounted the Stuart Wright Racing (SWR) speed demon. “We were in second place and catching the leader, but unfortunately we threw a chain because they’ve put new kerbs down on the outside of the track. You could go over the old kerbs, but as we hadn’t tested there beforehand I went over one of the new kerbs and the chain came off, which meant we didn’t finish.”
Fourth on the grid for the all-important final, hopes remained high – and despite paying the inevitable price for beginning on the outside line at a circuit where the importance of starting on the inside can never be underestimated, Jordan retained his composure and fought his way doggedly through the pack to snatch the runner-up spot, a fine way to conclude what has been by all accounts a breakthrough campaign.
“I knew we had the pace to run at the front,” the Repton School pupil related, “but equally starting where we were I knew we had some work to do to get there. I got hung out to dry at the start and dropped back a bit. That cost me some time, but eventually I worked my way up to second.
“The trouble was, by then the gap ahead to the leader was just too big to close. I was gaining on him but only by a tenth or so a lap, so I backed off towards the end to save the engine. Still, I was quite happy with second in the circumstances, considering we hadn’t been there the day before – and to get a podium only second time out was definitely positive.”
