Jordan King proved himself to be Lord of the ‘Ring as he stormed to a dominant double victory around the legendary Nürburgring to cap a remarkable 2013 campaign by clinching the fiercely-contested British Formula Three International Series crown.
King headed to the German Grand Prix circuit holding a slender three-point advantage over arch-rival Will Buller in the title standings, having overturned a 21-point deficit courtesy of a consistently strong showing in the previous meeting at Brands Hatch.
“I felt relaxed and pretty optimistic going into the weekend,” underlined the talented young Warwickshire ace. “We had proved season-long that we had the measure of everybody else out there speed-wise, and I was confident we would be quick enough to get the job done.”
On a wet-and-windy practice day, King made his intentions apparent right from the outset as he came out-of-the-blocks flying to draw first blood and firmly establish himself as the man to beat in his Carlin-prepared, Volkswagen-powered Dallara single-seater. The highly-rated Stoneleigh-based hotshot had to dig a little deeper in qualifying as Buller upped the ante, but he was not to be denied and a brace of peerless lap times within four hundredths of a second of each other not only bore witness to his extraordinary consistency – but crucially, earned him pole position for races one and three.
“I didn’t approach the first race any differently to any other, to be honest,” he confessed, “even though the stakes were obviously so much higher than usual. As we lined up on the grid, I could see out of the corner of my eye that there was a bit of commotion going on, but I didn’t really know what was happening until I noticed smoke coming from the back of Buller’s car and he was wheeled into the pit-lane.
“That was clearly a massive blow for Will and it was a real shame we couldn’t fight it out, but there was still a race to be won and I concentrated on making sure I got a good start, after which I was able to edge away and control proceedings. It was a crucial result, as it represented a massive step towards the title and afforded us considerably more breathing space going into the remaining two races.”
Maturely keeping his cool throughout and not putting so much as a wheel out-of-place, the McLaren Autosport Award finalist, British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) SuperStar and MSA Academy member took the chequered flag more than ten seconds clear of his nearest pursuer following a faultless performance that yielded an extra point for fastest lap to-boot. With the pressure eased somewhat, he entered the reversed-grid second outing well aware that the key would be to take no chances, make no mistakes and not get drawn into any unnecessary battles.
“I was starting eighth, but I knew that even if Buller beat me, still it wouldn’t make a huge difference to the points situation, so I drove much more cautiously than usual and didn’t go for the kinds of moves I normally would,” he explained. “I knew Will was coming through the pack and at the pace he was travelling, it was clear he was on a real mission and taking no prisoners because he needed to gain as much ground as possible to keep his championship hopes alive.
“I didn’t offer too much resistance against him as it simply wouldn’t have been worth the risk of an accident. Then, with a handful of laps remaining, it looked like he pushed a little too hard and he went off. At that stage, I knew if I just held position to the flag, I would be champion. As I crossed the finish line, my engineer Mark came over the radio to say, ‘you can have tomorrow off now’ but I replied, ‘there’s still one more race to win yet!’”
The only occasion all weekend that King didn’t top the timesheets, fifth place was nonetheless sufficient to seal the deal as his adversary’s bid ended in the barriers. Ever the professional, however, the celebrations were put on-ice until after the third and final encounter the following day.
“I was determined to beat Buller in a straight fight after being denied the opportunity on Saturday,” the 19-year-old asserted. “I wanted to go out and dominate the last race to prove I fully deserved to be champion. I got a perfect start – probably the best I’ve ever had – and although Will pushed me quite hard initially, as the race wore on, I was able to stretch away. The Carlin boys had given me a great car, and it was fantastic to end the season in style with a win.”
Another flawless lights-to-flag triumph and his fourth victory and eighth podium finish from 12 British F3 races, it was a champion’s drive if ever there was one and enabled King to add his name to one of the most prestigious trophies in international motorsport – one that has in the past been lifted by luminaries of the ilk of Jim Clark, Sir Jackie Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and Red Bull Racing new boy Daniel Ricciardo.
“We dropped a lot of points early on in the season due to a variety of reasons and I have made mistakes – but they’re inevitable as a rookie and we learned from them all, picked ourselves up and fought our way right back into contention,” concluded the Hugo Boss brand ambassador.
“I’m proud of what we’ve all achieved as a team, and obviously to win the title in my first year at F3 level – defeating a far more experienced competitor – makes it even more special. It was a little bit surreal when I thought about all the drivers who have won this championship before – and now I’ve joined that illustrious list.”
