News - Jordan narrowly misses out on place on MSA Race Elite Scheme

Jordan reached the final of the MSA British Race Elite programme after being selected as one of the final twenty drivers to be interviewed for the scheme. The initial amount of applicants for the scheme was 86 and after the judges whittled this number down to the final twenty, Jordan had to go to the Motor Sport Association’s headquarters in Colnbrook for a final interview to help the judges decide which 6 drivers to choose for a place on the prestigious scheme. The judges were Peter Briggs, a highly experienced single-seater Team Owner/Manager; Oliver Gavin, former British F3 Champion and current factory GM sportscar driver; Chris Gorne, race engineer in GP2 and Renault World Series and engineer to the winning A1 Team France; Matt James, Assistant Editor of Motorsport News with particular responsibilities to BTCC and national racing; David Leslie, one of Britain’s most versatile racing drivers having raced in single seaters, touring cars and sportscars, now a commentator with Eurosport. The Race Elite program is being funded by the MSA to help British drivers succeed at the highest levels of international motorsport. The scheme is being led by David Brabham he commented: "It wasn’t an easy job to whittle the number down to 20 as the quality of applicants was very high. One of our main criteria was that the drivers must have a confirmed 2007 racing programme and this was a factor in the final selection as was, of course, their achievements to date. We also tried to cover as many British racing categories as possible, bearing in mind that this is a "Race Elite" programme and not just a single-seater programme."

As well as working on track performance, engineering skills and technical understanding, the six Race Elite students will receive tuition in additional areas such as physical training, mind coaching, career management, sponsorship generation, promotion and media presentation that complete the all-round package of the modern motor racing driver. The race scheme follows the already successful British Rally Elite programme launched last year.

Jordan commented: "I was very pleased and excited to be put trough to the final 20 of the scheme and also being the second youngest driver on the list. The list of other drivers that were in the final twenty was of a very high standard. It was a very interesting experience and one which has helped me immensely. Unfortunately I wasn’t chosen as one of the six this year, but I think that the judges felt that I have great potential and with more racing experience under my belt I was asked to re apply and go for it again next year."