10th September 2007



It was a momentous day at Donington Park at the weekend, when Jon took pole position in his SG Formula team car, for the first of the two British rounds of the Eurocup Championship. It was Jon’s first pole position in his short single-seater career, since leaving European karting competition less than 12 –months ago.



“It was a fantastic lap,” Lancaster Snr commented, “and if he can get onto the podium later this afternoon it will be an added bonus, but he has got (Brendon) Hartley behind him, who is leading the Championship, and this is his fourth year, so it will not be easy for Jon.”

But then taking your maiden single-seater victory in your first year of racing is not easy either, and yet Jon delivered in superb style by leading from pole to chequered flag, 25 minutes and one lap later, despite the last five laps being rather stressful. “The gear lever came off in my hand,” Jon explained after the race, rubbing the sore palm of his right hand, “and all I was left with was a little stubby bit that was only an inch or so long!”



That little mishap though did not slow down the SG Formula youngster, as it did not stop Jon from controlling the race. Despite the early laps pressure applied by Eurocup leader Brendon Hartley, the New Zealand driver, chased by Red Bull driver Stefano Coletti, slowly lost touch as the race progressed. It was over the second half of the race when Jon was finally able to drop the Championship leader, and despite the loss of his gear-lever knob, he showed outstanding pace to take a popular win in front of an enormous estimated 85,000 strong crowd.



To the delight of the crowd opposite the podium, the sound of “God Save the Queen” played specifically to mark Jon’s maiden win, brought tears to his long-time supporter Dave Thompson’s eyes. As for Jon, “the start was difficult”, he said, “but I made sure I didn't make any mistakes and eventually I opened up a bit of a gap. Winning wasn't so difficult. It's a great feeling to have done it! I'm getting more confident with every race."



The win follows close on Jon’s last race when he finished on the podium for the first time, and so his confidence is indeed on the increase. On the following day (Sunday) race two was held in the early morning, with a large contingent of the crowd actually missing the race, owing to the long queues of traffic trying to get into the circuit. Jon started on grid four, but in a race with very little overtaking, even for someone of Jon’s proven 2007 overtaking calibre, he stayed in fourth place to the flag, adding another useful number of points to his Championship total.



Jon moves back to Europe in the coming weeks for the final few rounds in the Eurocup and French Championships, but on current form, he is now proving to be a major force for podium honours.