Stunning Debut

After only one hour in a Silverstone Formula Ford (FF) School car on the Stowe test circuit last month, Jon was back at the Northamptonshire circuit on Saturday for his single-seater race debut. With two races scheduled for the National circuit, Jon was up against 17 other drivers as the FF cars took to the track.

"I was the youngest driver there, but with only that one hour's experience in a single-seater, I was still quite happy when I qualified sixth on the grid. The first race was also my first ever standing start, and to be honest I made a good one, because I was up into third place by the first corner! There was then a bit of a battle for the lead, but once I got in front I pulled out a small gap. Yellow flags then appeared on a couple of corners, so I slowed down, which of course is what you should do, but the two drivers behind went past me..! The officials did nothing about this, which meant that I finished in third place".

It was a curious act from the race officials not to penalise the two other drivers, who gained an advantage by ignoring the yellow danger flags, and which cost Jon a maiden debut victory. He would more than make up for this disappointment though inrace two.

"I started on grid three, but this time I got a little too much wheel-spin and dropped back to sixth place. It was quite easy after that though, because I was able to just pick everyone else off one-by-one, taking the lead quite easily, before pulling away to win by 2.2s". All told it was a straight-forward race, with no yellow flags to worry about, although it was enough to provide Jon with first place and the top step of the podium.

"Obviously I was very, very happy to win so soon, especially when bearing in mind I had only been in the car for one-hour last month. It was funny really, because I had to prove in that one hour session that not only could I drive the car, but that I could do safely enough for them to let me race. All-in-all, and besides taking the fastest lap, it was clear that come race day I could have won both races as well, which on its own would have been good enough to make me happy anyway. We also made sure that Harald (Huysmann, Jon's manager), who was on holiday in Spain was kept informed, and he was really pleased with the result as well".

The two races from the weekend now means that Jon has two more to add to the three race signatures on his licence, as he makes his bid to find the eight he needs for 2007. "At the moment I am looking forward to the four Formula Renault winter series events at Brands Hatch and Croft with Team AKA in November, so I will probably have to do another Formula Ford race to make it eight. I will then be ready for a full season of racing next year".

Jon is more than champing at the bit, after proving he can now win in single-seater's.