27th/28th October 2007


During the build-up to the final Eurocup weekend of the season at Barcelona in Spain, Jon carried an air of confidence about him that suggested he was unbeatable.

Pre-race preparation went according to plan, apart from the fact that Series leader and confirmed champion for 2007, New Zealander Brendan Hartley, just took pole position ahead of Jon’s SG Formula car for race one. Sadly for the pole-sitter, the late-season pace of the British youngster, who only 12-months earlier had been competing in European karting for Birel, truly had marked him out as the best Formula Renault Eurocup driver of 2007.



Saturday saw Jon win his third victory in succession from grid two, which moved him ever closer to taking the runner-up position in the 2007 Eurocup Championship, finishing clear of his team-mate and Series rival Charles Pic who took third place.

Jon made to better start to lead Hartley into the first corner, from where he quickly built-up over a two second lead, heading towards the chequered flag for what was his third win in a row, but his fourth overall. "This season has been really crazy,” Jon said after the race. “I wasn't able to score any points in any of the opening races and now I'm taking one win after another! Tomorrow I'll be starting from pole position, so I'm going to try and continue the run with a fifth victory. Finishing runner-up would be a superb result for me and the entire team."



Jon had also entered for the French Championship round the same day, but with the French race first on the programme, and with very little time before Jon was due out for the Eurocup event, he had little choice but to withdraw from the earlier of the two races. “I could not risk anything going wrong, or the car being damaged, because we just might not have had enough time to sort everything out. Making sure I was the runner-up in the Eurocup was far more important, so something had to go.”

As for race two on Sunday, Jon made it four races from his last four starts, by taking his fifth victory in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship. And by doing so he sealed the runner-up position, with a late season run of form that was so strong as he gained experience, that if it had come sooner in the season, Jon would undoubtedly have been challenging quite easily for the 2007 title.
Starting from pole position, Jon and race rival Alguersuari went into the opening bend side-by-side. The Spanish driver tried hard to upset his British rival, but Jon is now too experienced to succumb to such intimidation, to make sure he led from the first corner apex. Within the next five laps Jon built up an unassailable lead over his rivals, who just did not have the pace to go with him. “And to make it even more satisfying,” Jon said afterwards, “I also took the point available for setting the fastest lap of the race lap.
"If there had been a few races more, I might even have won the championship!” Jon said with a smile. “The work that we put in with the team has really paid off and I know that I can be satisfied to finish in second overall. My best memory of the season though still has to be Donington. It was fantastic to win at home."



Jon’s race weekend was not, however, finished, and with two race wins already under his belt, he decided to take part in the French Championship race after he qualified on pole position, probably much to the chagrin of his opponents when they saw him drive to the grid. He won by six seconds! “Not a bad weekend for me really, was it?” Three wins, two poles, two fastest laps, six race victories in succession, which makes it seven wins this year, and confirmation that I am now runner-up in the 2007 Eurocup. Even Hartley has only won four races this year.

“It is important for me to thank a number of people for the help they have given me this year, because I did not have much experience when the year started. Obviously thanks go to Birel, whose karts I raced up to the end of last year, and who have continued to take a keen interest in my single-seater career. Team boss Stefan of SG Formula has given me a lot of help and support, along with my mechanic Anthony, race engineers Thibaut, Yannick, and Cyril, and the truckie/chief mechanic Bammack, and of course my sponsors – I owe a great deal of thanks to them all.”

The other highlight of the weekend though was perhaps French team boss Stefan’s desire to learn a new National Anthem. With Jon visiting the top step of the podium on such a regular basis in recent weeks, Stefan has been logging onto the Internet to learn the words to “God Save Our Gracious Queen”. And after “Allez les bleus” was sung so many times during the rugby world cup, it seems the new SG Formula catch-phrase has become “Allez les blancs!”

Now back in the UK Jon approaches the opening rounds of the Formula Renault Winter Series this coming weekend at Donington, followed by Croft the weekend after, with Hi-Tech. “This is where I started last year,” Jon remembered, “only this time I am going into the Series with a year’s experience behind me. That will count for a lot.” And lets not forget that it is only a few short weeks ago that Jon took his maiden Formula Renault win… at Donington.

Meanwhile Jon’s early plans for 2008 are starting to take shape, but nothing can be confirmed at this stage. “It will more than likely be the Euro Series in Formula 3,” he said, “but we should know more soon.”