He might have made just four starts in the FIA Formula Two Championship, but to watch Jordan King in action, you would be hard-pressed to tell – as a truly superb performance at the Nürburgring in Germany saw the talented Warwickshire rookie snare a brilliant top five finish.
The youngest driver ever to compete in Formula Two’s modern era at just 17, Jordan had already caught the eye with an impressive eighth place on his debut around legendary Belgian Grand Prix circuit Spa-Francorchamps a week earlier. Buoyed by that, he travelled to the Nürburgring – nestled deep in the spectacular Eifel Mountains – needing to get a handle on another new track, but in optimistic mood.
“I was more confident after Spa, because we had proved the speed was there give-or-take a tenth or two – and I was only going to get faster,” reasoned the regular Formula Renault UK front-runner. “At Spa, I hadn’t really known what to expect, whereas going to the Nürburgring, I felt much more comfortable inside the car.
“Obviously I’d watched F1 races there on TV and had been in the simulator, but all that can only get you so far – you don’t get a full perspective of the circuit. It was a lot more undulating than I had been anticipating – every corner leads into another, and there isn’t a lot of opportunity to relax!”
An immediate convert and ever the quick learner, it took Jordan a mere five laps to get to grips with the Nürburgring’s demanding layout as he effortlessly belied his steep learning curve. ‘On it’ straight out-of-the-box, the highly-rated Stoneleigh-based speed demon lapped a competitive seventh-fastest on tyres that were well past their best in opening practice, before improving to an excellent third later on amongst the 24-strong field.Justifiably encouraged by that, having initially been targeting the top ten, the BRDC Rising Star’s pace and prowess led to a shifting of the goalposts somewhat and a new focus on the top five – a sure sign of Jordan’s growing self-belief and stature within the sport. Although ninth spot in qualifying the next day was ‘a bit disappointing’ after he ‘made a mistake that cost me half-a-second and probably fourth place’, he would amply make amends come the race.
“I had a really good first corner and got up to sixth,” he recounted. “I lost a couple of places further round the lap, but then a few battles kicked off ahead and I regained some ground. A crash later on lifted me to fifth, and that’s where I finished, which was a good, strong result and definitely more representative of our true pace – we were consistently quick throughout the race, so I was happy with that.
“I was actually close to the fight over third, but in the final laps they pulled away a bit due to a few small mistakes on my part and tyre degradation. That’s all part of the learning process, too, though – getting to know how to make my tyres last longer and how to really get the best out of them.”
From 11th on the grid following a ‘nightmare’ qualifying session in which traffic at the worst possible moment cost Jordan a significant chunk of time, early progress in race two would unfortunately be stymied by a safety car period that rather took the wind out of his sails. After homing inexorably in on the four-way scrap over fifth, the Princethorpe College AS-level student’s burgeoning momentum was rudely interrupted and his charge suddenly stopped in its tracks, leaving him to take the chequered flag ninth.
“Our speed was really good and I managed my tyres a lot better,” he reflected. “I overtook a couple of other drivers early on, but after that, whilst I was two or three tenths quicker than the pack directly ahead of me, with the downforce and the nature of the circuit, it isn’t hard for someone to stop you from getting past – if they just park their car on the inside and force you to try and go round the outside where there’s less grip under braking, there isn’t much you can do about it. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t demonstrate my full potential.”
Be that as it may, astonishingly, the result has vaulted Jordan into the top ten in the points table – despite having only entered two of the four meetings in 2011 to-date – and as he continues to make observers really sit up and take note, the Hugo Boss brand ambassador will head next to Brands Hatch’s celebrated GP Circuit for the conclusion of his Formula Two adventure. Deriving extra motivation as one of just five Brits in the field on home turf, this time, he reveals, the objective has to be two top five finishes.
“I’m happy with the speed we showed and the results we achieved at the Nürburgring,” he mused in conclusion. “Before Spa, I could never have envisaged being in the top ten in the championship now. Formula Two is a big step-up from Formula Renault UK, but I feel I’ve got the hang of it already – and scoring points in three-out-of-four races and being consistently up at the sharp end is really promising for the future.”
