but goes down fighting in Chennai

The racing gods refused to smile upon Jordan King in the grand finale of the 2012/13 MRF Challenge around the Madras Motorsports Circuit last weekend, but the talented young Warwickshire ace could nonetheless claim a moral victory as he went down fighting in Chennai.

King travelled to India fired-up to successfully defend his 2011 MRF Challenge crown, and sitting five points clear of his closest pursuer in what had developed into a three-way tussle for glory. Feeling bullish about his prospects, the highly-rated Stoneleigh-based speed demon had prior knowledge of the circuit from his championship debut there two years earlier, and he described it as an extremely bumpy, flowing, medium-speed track that was both enjoyable and pretty demanding to drive.

Amongst the 17-strong field, King placed his Dallara-designed, Renault-powered single-seater fourth on the grid for Saturdays opening encounter, comfortably ahead of chief title rival Conor Dalya GP3 Series and Indy Lights race-winner and son of former F1 driver Derek Dalywho languished outside of the top ten. With overtaking at a distinct premium around the Madras Motorsports Circuit, the reigning Formula Renault Northern European Cup Vice-Champion went on to take the chequered flag in the same position.

Benefitting from a couple of incidents further up the order, though, Daly wound up sixthand in so doing, secured pole position for race two later in the day whilst the championship leader conversely lined up just third on the top six reverse grid, ironically finding himself penalised for his pace. With both competitors finishing where they had started, it was the American that assumed the advantage in the points standings heading into Sunday.

King once again struck the first blow by qualifying a superb second, six spots clear of Daly. Twice snatching the initiative off the line only to twice see the first race red-flagged for collisions, the 18-year-old McLaren Autosport Award finalist maturely kept his composure, and when the action belatedly got underway for real, he sprinted away to a seamless triumphhis fourth from eight outings over the course of a commendable campaign.

Frustratingly, however, the elimination of several contenders in the various start-line mles meant that Daly inherited three places without even turning a wheel, and fifth position earned him a front row starting slot for the decider, whilst King was down in sixth and facing an uphill struggle. He takes up the story.

I made a decent getaway, but I was on the outside going into the first corner and with it being so dusty off-line, I slid wide, recalled the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) Rising Star and MSA Academy member. That left me right at the rear of the field, and by quite a margin.

I focussed on fighting my way through and recovered to fifth, but then the driver directly in front of me broke down just as I was tucked underneath his rear wing. I had nowhere to go and ran into the back of him, and although there was no real damage to my car, the delay dropped me to eighth.

Regaining one place by the time the flag fell, Kings gutsy and valiant effort was not quite enough, as he found himself pipped to the laurels by a scant five points. Given that he had sacrificed as many as 52 by missing two races along the way in order to attend the prestigious Autosport Awards ceremony in December... well, as the Americans would say, do the math. Still, as he reflects upon his MRF adventure as a whole, the Hugo Boss brand ambassador is justifiably proud of what he has achieved.

I cant be too downcast at the end of the day, he mused in conclusion, and if I had completed the full season, Id like to think I would have had the title wrapped up before the last race. I did feel the reverse grid format was a little unfair, as it punishes you for being fast in qualifying and race one, but Conor drove well all season, too, so congratulations to him on his success.

Aside from the small mistake in Sundays second race in Chennai, Im very happy with my own performance after consistently proving myself to be the quickest driver in the field. It was naturally disappointing not to be able to retain my title, but I take a lot of encouragement from the experience and I think I can come away from it with my head held high.