News - Donington Grand Prix - Robbed of Victory at Donington!

The Formula BMW UK season reached two thirds distance on the 14 and 15th July at the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire. The weekend was one of the most tricky so far as conditions ranged between dry and sunny to windy monsoon like rain. At one of the most technical circuits on this years calendar this round would be a test of any drivers capabilities, especially as Jordan had never raced at the circuit.

After consistent top ten results in testing on Thursday, Jordan knew that the weekend was a chance for him to gain his best finish yet. The first qualifying session saw Jordan only qualify 12th but after having a misfiring problem and seeing his team mate qualify on pole, Jordan knew that better was to come in the second session. After some setup changes and a new set of filters in the fuel tank Jordan took to the track for the second session of the day. Following his team mate Jordan was on fire, setting the fastest time of the session with 4 minutes to go before Marcus Ericsson then denied Team Loctite a historic front row lock out by piping both Loctite drivers on the final lap of the session. Nevertheless a 3rd place start for the second race of the weekend was a very welcome result for the Tavistock youngster.

Sunday at Donington park was one of the most unusual days any driver could ever face, because of heavy rain on race day it made it very difficult conditions for everyone. The first race was postponed twice and finally it was started after 4 hours delay, Race one once underway passed with little incident. Jordan had a very difficult task ahead of him with having to start in 12th position and the torrential rain a small increase in position was only to be expected because of the huge amounts of spray. Initially the tyres did not come on and with a alternator problem restricting the car of electrical power the pack had pulled away. Once they did come on Jordan was quick, but at that point it was too late to catch the remaining pack. A finish of 11th place was not a bad result considering the electrical problems Jordan had faced.

Race two was rather more, eventful. Starting at the front of the grid a good finish was most definitely on the cards for a buoyed up Williams. Starting on the second row, Jordan was focussed on making a clean get away to try and gain his maiden podium of the year. After getting of the line rather sluggishly Jordan slotted in behind team mate Sam Abay and Fortec driver Marcus Ericsson. At the end of the first lap, Ericsson was pressurised into a mistake by the two team Loctite cars, and at the end of the first lap it was a Team Loctite 1-2. By the second lap Jordan was closing right in on his team mate and coming into the first corner made a move for the lead. Sam unfortunately lost out as the two came out of the corner dropping a wheel onto the grass and then falling to 4th. Jordan meanwhile was away and gone in the lead. Leading his first Formula BMW race Williams was pulling clear of the rest of the pack at a huge rate. However his joy was short lived, as on lap 4 he was given a drive through penalty for a jump start. Jordan then had the pain of coming into the pit lane to serve his penalty whilst the other drivers sped past him on the main straight. Emerging from the pit lane in last position after leading the race so comfortably was a very harsh penalty on the Team Loctite driver. Jordan nevertheless did come back through the field as the rain started to fall on the circuit. The race was prematurely stopped after 10 laps out of 18 when the rain was deemed to be too heavy. At this point Jordan was clearly the fastest on the circuit and had been for most of the race. In the final rain hit lap he was over 2 seconds faster than anybody and was closing in on the top six pack.

The final part of the story will be left to Jordan, he commented on the weekend:

"Its been one very eventful weekend. After qualifying so well I knew that I could win this race! I have never raced at Donington but knew that I would be quick here. The penalty in the second race was not fair. I was third on the grid and in the dip of the main straight. All three of the front runners rolled forward slightly when we brought the revs up, I only moved a couple of centimetres, which everyone else did. It's very unfair because I didn’t gain any advantage from it! I was still third going into the first corner and in my opinion I think I had a bad start! I think that the penalty has taken away a comfortable win because I was away and gone by that point. I felt totally devastated having to come into the pits whilst leading the race! Even after that I showed how quick I was, especially on the last lap when I was two second quicker than all the guys in front of me and I think if the race hadn’t have been stopped early I could have even got back to the podium!! The BMW rule for a start fault, that is a drive through, I really harsh because it doesn’t allow any leeway for protest before they execute the penalty on the driver. I suppose I will just have to wait till next time until I can show again to everyone how well I can do!"

The next race of the Formula BMW UK Season is at the Snetterton circuit on the 27th and 28th July.