August 6th, 2009 Jordan is King of Kartmasters 2009!
He may describe it as a ’scalextric’ track at which he had not enjoyed the best of fortunes in previous outings, but Warwickshire star Jordan King certainly appeared at one with PF International last weekend as he crushed the opposition for glory in the most prestigious annual event on the British karting calendar.
Jordan arrived at the Lincolnshire circuit in the midst of a fine vein of form, with two recent podium finishes in the fiercely-contested WSK International Series on European shores assuredly confirming his status as a leading contender on the international stage.
With the winner of the one-off Kartmasters meeting earning the honour of carrying the coveted ‘GP’ plate on their kart for the remainder of the season, everybody entered the weekend with just a single goal – but only one driver would succeed in lifting the laurels.
“Over the winter we never really did that well there, and Super 1 wasn’t great either,” the Harbury ace related. “People always say it’s one of the hardest tracks in the country to win at, and I hadn’t won a major final there before.
“The competition in the two national series, Formula Kart Stars (FKS) and Super 1, is always tough as it is, and people tend to step up a level for Kartmasters – but we had done quite well there last year, when I won the pre-final and finished fifth in the grand final, my best Kartmasters result so far, so I was feeling pretty confident.”
Ignoring the advantage of the FKS regulars – who had competed at PF only a fortnight earlier – and insisting that he was ‘just concentrating on myself’, it was an approach that would serve Jordan well. His Stuart Wright-prepared Maranello chassis may generally work to its optimum in the hotter climes of Europe, but it was not to be found wanting on a mid-summer weekend in Britain either, as its driver pipped defending British Champion Jake Dennis to the top spot on the 25-strong starting grid – composed of the very crème de la crème of KF3 class competition – by the narrowest of margins.
“We only had three practice sessions, but we were quite quick in all of them,” the 15-year-old continued. “We changed the kart a little bit, and in qualifying I put it on pole by one hundredth of a second. I think it was the first pole I’ve ever had actually, which was a really good feeling!
“The Maranello doesn’t usually work quite as well in the cooler conditions in the UK, but also we hadn’t been on the right chassis for the past couple of races either, which had led to a lack of grip. The one we had for Kartmasters was much better, with more all-round grip. PF is quite grippy as it is compared to other UK circuits, too, so it was just about getting the kart balanced, and it felt good throughout the weekend.”
Inclement conditions during the two heat races failed to derail Jordan’s challenge, as he overcame a less-than-perfect set-up in the latter encounter to snatch a win and a second place – putting him firmly on pole position for the pre-final.
“In the second heat it began raining halfway through,” explained the 2008 British Mini Max Vice-Champion, “and we were on a dry set-up because it was dry when the race had started. That made it a real struggle when it began raining; it was pretty slippery out there, with not massive amounts of grip.
“I just had to drive according to what was underneath me, and I was trying not to push beyond what the kart was capable of in the circumstances and focussing on getting the best result possible out of it. We just managed to keep second in the end…”
If it was a close call – clinging onto the runner-up spot by a mere four tenths of a second – then the pre-final was a far more comfortable affair, at least after Jordan had overcome an early setback.
“It was dry for the finals the following day, so I was feeling quite confident provided I could just get away at the start and build up a bit of a gap,” he confessed. “It took quite a while for the kart to come on and we dropped back to fourth initially, but when it did come on I was able to get into the lead and just pull away.
“The grand final went pretty similarly; I fell back to fourth early on before regaining the lead, but then Jake got into second and started closing on me towards the end. He was very quick and was applying a lot of pressure, but I always felt in control.”
As he crossed the line to take the all-important chequered flag barely six hundredths of a second to the good, Jordan punched the air in jubilation, in the knowledge that not only had he defeated the defending British champion and all others for that matter, but he had also added perhaps his most glittering accolade to-date to what is fast becoming an increasingly impressive career CV.
“I can’t really describe what it was like,” reflected the overwhelmed Repton School pupil. “I can’t put into words how it felt to cross the line – I was just going crazy! We rocked! It still hasn’t really sunk in yet…”