Lennox-Lamb stuns field on KF1 debut

Fresh off the back of his finest sportscar performance to-date in the Playstation Ginetta Junior Championship, Jordon Lennox-Lamb produced one of the drives of his fledgling career to leave the established stars trailing in his wheeltracks on his maiden KF1 appearance.

The young Bedford ace returned to Brands Hatch for the final round in the closed-top Ginetta Junior series in high spirits, having already competed at the Kent circuit three weeks previously, and that confidence was evident right from the opening session.

“It was really good,” Jordon enthused. “Each time I went out I was getting quicker and quicker and making fewer mistakes. The first practice session was held in damp conditions and it went really well. The car was really loose and moving around a lot, but I was holding it well and putting in consistently good times.”

Though qualifying itself was repeatedly halted, the former BRDC Stars of Tomorrow JICA front-runner nevertheless secured a trio of impressive top six grid slots, but the races would bring mixed fortunes.

“In the first one I made a really good start and got up to fourth,” Jordon recounted, “then going through Paddock Hill Bend on lap two I just dropped a wheel off the track and it put me in the gravel trap. That slight error cost us the race, because shortly afterwards there was a big accident and it was red-flagged.

“I was really annoyed with myself, because I wanted three good results from the weekend. Carolynn Hoy from the BRDC was there and it wasn’t really a good start.”

The mistake did, however, leave the 15-year-old even more fired-up for race two, and it certainly showed, as he was able to put his karting experience to good use in an outing full of overtaking from start-to-finish, taking the chequered flag a strong fifth and subsequently being elevated to fourth when one of the drivers ahead was handed a jump-start penalty.

“I was really pleased,” Jordon enthused. “I was already happy with fifth, and for the final race I was hoping to get onto the podium.

“I got a really good start and was running fifth. I was behind (champion) Nigel Moore and followed him round for a few laps. Then I went up the inside of Dino Zamparelli into Graham Hill Bend, but he just turned across and spun me round. End of story…

“It was definitely a positive weekend for me overall, though. Carolynn and a few other BRDC members told me afterwards I had driven really well. It was just a shame I hadn’t been able to do the whole year, because if I had done I think I could have gone into that round aiming for victory.”

Subsequently undertaking a fortnight’s work experience at Bedford-based Formula Palmer Audi – a future racing goal for the teenager and a former proving ground for the likes of 2007 Champ Car runner-up Justin Wilson, DTM champ and McLaren F1 test-driver Gary Paffett and double World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx – Jordon impressed so much within days he had been offered a full-time job. He would continue to turn heads on his debut in KF1 – the premier karting class in the country – in the opening round of the winter series held at PF International in Lincolnshire.

“To save money we hired an engine and found a set of tyres from a dustbin!” he smiled, taking up the story. “We bolted them on for practice and were putting in some really good times which was pleasing. Right from the very first session I was on the pace, and I knew I could easily keep up with the likes of (Mark) Litchfield and (Jamie) Croxford.

“We had to start at the back in all the heats because we were on a late entry. That was a disadvantage, but because there were only 15 drivers it wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds. I always have a special start planned for PF too – going around the outside of the opening two corners – and in heat one I was up into sixth by the time we got to the first hairpin.

“After three laps, coming onto the straight the four in front of me had a big coming-together. Three of them went off and that put me up into second, with (Richard) Bradley in front of me and Litchfield and Croxford behind. I took about a second out of Bradley’s lead over the final three laps, and was right with him by the end. If only there had been one more lap…”

The Top Kart star then worked in tandem with Bradley in heat two, with the duo making their way up through the order into seventh and eighth places, until it all came unstuck.

“I went for a move on him into the complex,” Jordon explained. “Because I was the new kid in the class I don’t think the regulars liked the idea of me overtaking them; he cut straight across the front of me, I caught the rear of his kart and he went shooting off into the barriers.”

Fourth on the grid for the all-important final – behind Shaun Carter, Croxford and Litchfield and ahead of Bradley – was swiftly converted into second place, but with a big gap ahead to leader Litchfield. Not that the new boy was willing to let Mark have it all his own way, however, and a new lap record on his class debut – up against considerably older and more experienced opposition and having never so much as sat in a KF1 mount before – hinted at an outstanding potential ahead of his 2008 KF2 European campaign and possible assault on KF1 British honours.

“At PF you can look up going along the main straight and see the timing board,” Jordon said, “and we were doing exactly the same times to within a tenth of each other every single lap. It was amazing! If I had been on the front row of the grid I know I would have been up there giving him a really good run for his money.

“I think the others were getting a little bit annoyed about the fact that I was chasing them down, overtaking and then pulling away, but eventually I earned their respect and Mark shook my hand at the end of the race. I was really pleased; it was fantastic. We haven’t had such great results lately, but that weekend really helped to bring my confidence back up again.”

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