5th/6th May 2007

Rounds 3 and 4 of the Formula Renault Eurocup took place at the Nurburgring at the weekend, not sadly on the very long and (in)famous Nordschleiffe circuit, but the track more familiar with Formual 1 GP viewers. It did not stop Jon linking up with his former European karting rival Jules Bianchi, who is taking part in the Eurocup, so that the two of them could go around the 'old' Grand Prix track, which has not been used for Formula 1 since Niki Lauda's fiery accident in 1976.

Back at the more modern facility though Jon was walking with an air of confidence. "Although he had not raced at the German track before, "I just love it!" he said after first practice. "There is also a full grid for this weekend with 42 cars due to start the first race..!"

Using old used tyres on Friday's free practice Jon was on the move. "My times were good," he said, "and for most of the session I was able to run comfortably in the top six. But I suppose that left me a little over-confident and I probably over-drove the following day." It was a typical 'rookie' mistake, but it is a good mistake to make, because it means that Jon can learn from it.

Unfortunately the qualifying session was again disrupted with yellow flags and another red flag stoppage. It suggests that the driving standards of some of the other drivers is rather poor this year, but hopefully a few stern words from the officials will calm these drivers down before the season has progressed too far. Jon's best lap set him
up for 12th fastest time from the 42 drivers present, but he admitted to his second sector not being his best - had it been a grid slot around sixth place would have been in reach.

"I made a great start in the first race and was up to ninth by the first corner," Jon explained. "There had been a shower of rain just before the start, and because we thought the rain might continue, the team put on more rear wing. Sadly the rain stopped soon afterwards, which then left me too slow on the straights with too much drag off the
rear wing. It would have been OK if it had carried on raining," he shrugged, although he did not have to worry about a couple of drivers at the back of the grid, who probably felt that they had nothing to lose and opted for full 'wets'. It might have worked...

Regrettably Jon was unable to capitalise on his excellent start and failed to finish. "One of my team-mates tried to push me into the pit wall..." It left the British ace speechless at the stupidity of the manoeuvre, and whilst Jon showed suitable restraint afterwards, it was left to the Race Stewards to issue a formal warning to the errant driver. In trying to avoid his wayward team-mate though, Jon was 'tagged' by the car behind him, which punctured a rear tyre and ended his race. "I was on grid 14 for the second race and got up to 10th place at one stage, but I had terminal understeer, so I was happy to run the rest of the race to finish in 11th place by the flag."

All in all it was another promising weekend for Jon, who now has to prepare for the next round of the French Series this coming weekend at Dijon-Prenois, a circuit famous for motor racing aficionados with lasting memories of the fantastic duel between the Ferrari of Gilles Villeneuve and Renault of Rene Arnoux over 20 years ago. It is a duel that Jon would like to emulate.

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