King catches the eye with spirited Spa-Francorchamps Formula Two debut
Jordan King not only made history when he became the youngest driver ever to compete in the modern era of the FIA Formula Two Championship at Spa-Francorchamps – he also caught the eye with an extraordinary performance in which he troubled the front-runners first time out.
Taking advantage of the long summer break in his 2011 Formula Renault UK schedule, Jordan pitched himself right in at the deep end in Formula Two up against a whole host of rivals with significantly greater experience than him in car racing, and with just a single day’s prior testing underneath his belt. He headed to legendary Belgian Grand Prix circuit Spa targeting a top ten finish in the 23-strong field, and despite being the youngest driver in attendance by well over a year at only 17, he would accomplish that objective in some style.
At the wheel of his new, turbocharged 500bhp single-seater – more than twice as powerful as his usual Formula Renault UK ‘office’ – the talented Warwickshire star wasted little time in getting to grips with Spa’s famously demanding layout. If he was disadvantaged by missing out on some vital Friday morning practice running due to a succession of red flags and frustrating hold-ups, he bounced back impressively in the afternoon to lap a superb and entirely unanticipated third-quickest.
“Spa is a proper F1 circuit and really challenging,” confessed the highly-rated Stoneleigh-based speed demon, “and the quicker the car and the more downforce it has, the more of a challenge it becomes! There’s a massive amount of power to get used to in the Formula Two car; when you get on the gas, initially there’s not a lot there – but then the turbo kicks in, and suddenly you get another blast. The steering is quite heavy with the bigger tyres compared to a Formula Renault, too.”
With plenty to take on-board in a very short period, Jordan’s astonishing practice pace was a timely confidence boost indeed, but the elements would throw a spanner into the works when he woke up the following day to find – in time-honoured Spa fashion – that the heavens had opened with a vengeance and unleashed their wrath right over the Ardennes circuit. A baptism of fire lay in wait.
“I’m usually good in the wet, so there were no worries on that count,” reflected the BRDC Rising Star, “but the car and circuit were both completely new to me in those conditions. I was lying about tenth in qualifying but then I spun, which ended our session with almost a third of it still to go – and as others went quicker after that, we ended up 16th. That was disappointing, as I felt sure we could have been in the top ten.
“In the race, I got a really good start to gain several places straightaway, but then going up through Eau Rouge for the first time, I turned into the top left kink slightly too early and clipped the kerb, sending me sideways and into a complete 360° spin, which was pretty scary! That left me down in last place and it was hard to fight my way back through afterwards, especially in the wet, but we recovered to 17th at the end.”
Eau Rouge is a corner that is widely-regarded as one of the most fearsome in the world, and with turbo power and distinctly limited grip in the inclement conditions, quite a handful for an experienced competitor, let alone a teenage Formula Two rookie.
Happily, the second day would dawn dry, and despite clutch issues that cost him valuable time at the beginning of the qualifying session and ‘a few small mistakes’ on his fastest lap as he continued to acclimatise himself to the turbo boost, Jordan went on to claim an excellent sixth spot on the grid for race two.
“I got a mega start again and went to the inside into the first corner, which gained me a place immediately,” recounted the Princethorpe College AS-level student. “Some people slid a little wide on the exit, but I got good drive to pass another one of them there. I then had a really good run down the hill and up through Eau Rouge and made up another position still going along the back straight, which left me third, but our speed wasn’t quite good enough to hold it there and we fell backwards a bit.
“We struggled with understeer throughout the race, too, which didn’t help and I think if I had accepted the situation a bit earlier, we might have ended up with a better result, but I probably fought too hard to try to defend against other drivers, which cost me time and I finished eighth.”
Acknowledging that the experience will stand him in good stead for the future, there can be little doubt that at Spa-Francorchamps, Jordan turned a number of heads and truly made people sit up and take notice of his prodigious potential. As he prepares for seconds-out, round two at the Nürburgring in Germany, he is ready to rock.
“I was definitely pleased for my first race weekend in Formula Two,” concluded the Hugo Boss brand ambassador. “I learnt a huge amount, and it was a good, solid debut, so I have to be satisfied with that – I think the others were quite surprised by how quick I was first time out.
“The Nürburgring is another new circuit for me, so it will be another learning curve, but I feel stronger after Spa and better-prepared for it now. I know what to expect this time and what I need to work on – and the goal has to be to stay inside the top ten.”
