Jordan King entered the third round of 2010 in the hotly-fought national Super 1 Series at Nutts Corner in Ireland bidding to put a recent run of ill-fortune behind him – and despite going into the weekend on the back foot in relation to his rivals, the highly-rated young Warwickshire speed demon came away again with an entirely unanticipated podium finish.
In his two previous meetings, Jordan had put his kart on pole position in Super 1 at Larkhall in Scotland – only to see his challenge undermined by an engine failure – and further engine woes had scuppered his chances of shining in the WSK Euro Series at Genk in Belgium, notwithstanding impressive pace in both qualifying and the heats.
Arriving at Nutts Corner in Co. Antrim with a new chassis – one bearing both the input and the initials of leading F1 star and grand prix-winner Robert Kubica – the Harbury hotshot knew he would be up against it somewhat and on a learning curve, particularly as he was forced to miss all of testing due to his GCSEs.
“We got there on Friday afternoon, and I went out for the first time in practice on Saturday morning,” he explained, acknowledging that the ‘RK’ is ‘slightly different’ in every area to what he had been on. “That was quite a big disadvantage, because it obviously helps if you know the track well and I had only raced there once before.
“I really like the circuit, though – it has quite a bit of gradient, and you really need to respect the kerbs. I broke the lap record there last year so I was feeling quite confident, but it was my first time at Nutts in KF2 – and the last thing you want when you’re trying to get used to a new kart is for it to rain, which is precisely what it did!”
Lapping a little way off the leading pace to begin with was only to be expected in the circumstances, but then an engine seizure in qualifying left Jordan plum last on the starting grid for his two heats – unaccustomed territory indeed for one of Britain’s undisputed leading lights.
Worse still, the 16-year-old subsequently found himself spun unceremoniously out of eighth position in heat one by a rather over-eager adversary – but happily, a dry second day paved the way to seventh place in heat two, a clear sign that he was increasingly getting to grips with his new chassis. His opening heat misfortune still meant he would have to begin the first final from towards the back of the field – but the race would develop into the highlight of the weekend.
“I just slowly came through and ended up third,” recounted the Repton School pupil. “Our pace was good, but with everybody on more-or-less the same kind of lap time it’s difficult to make massive progress – so it was definitely good to get a result and to be back on the podium again, especially having not been there for a year and turning up with no testing and on a different kart.
“At the start of the second final, Jacob Nørtoft on pole left a gap, so I tried to go up the inside; he saw me coming and went to shut the door, but I was already alongside him and my rear wheel touched his rear wheel. My wheel went over his, which lifted the back of my kart up so I couldn’t brake and I went into the gravel and down to the back. I was still confident of being able to catch people up if they started fighting, but they never did. It was a bit disappointing not to get another good result, because the podium had been on the cards again.”
Frustrating a conclusion to proceedings it might have been, but nonetheless the overwhelming impression Jordan took away from Ireland was a positive one, still in touch in the chase for the coveted crown and looking ahead now to round four at Rowrah in Cumbria, a demanding, undulating circuit around which the JRP ace has an excellent record.
“On the first day we didn’t get a lot of laps in – probably about 20 in all – but we managed to cover 50 or so on the second day in the dry,” he reflected. “It was hard to get used to everything in such a short period of time, but we got somewhere close by the end. We can probably find another tenth from the chassis and another tenth from me in terms of driving it, and there will be extra time to be found when we get the new engine as well.
“Our pace was definitely encouraging. At Rowrah, I think, for the championship we need a double win; we’ve been quick there before – I had a podium in KF3 last year and finished first and second in Mini Max in 2008. It’s quite a drivers’ track and you really need to attack it – and I’m feeling confident.”
