Chamberlain gets BMW chance

Jordan’s career received a major boost this summer when Vroom and BMW Motorsport selected him to take part in a shootout to select the drivers they will support in their junior formula in 2008. And that’s not all – he also got an invite to the Italian Grand Prix as a VIP guest of the BMW-Sauber F1.

Jordan races in KF2 in the UK and abroad and is currently leading the Super One, but back in July he was awarded a free place on the licensing course to enable him to race in Formula BMW, the logical next move after karting.

Although Jordan had never driven a racing car before, he was selected as one of the ten best youngsters on the course who will return to the new F1 circuit of Valencia at the end of September to attempt to earn a place as one of the three official Formula BMW Juniors for 2009.

To qualify for the award, the young drivers must not only demonstrate their driving ability but must also pass various tests of their mental and motoring skills away from the car. These are elements that drivers often find it difficult to focus on but can be the decisive factors.

BMW’s innovative driver development scheme pays for a proportion of a season’s racing costs, which are estimated to top £250,000, and also puts the drivers through an intensive off-track programme of education about sponsorship, media awareness, and mental coaching.

This weekend’s trip to Monza was a resounding success, where Jordan had the chance to meet all the F1 drivers, and also went to a barbecue with the BMW team. He attracted the attention of several talent scouts and potential sponsors, and looking for funding is his top priority for the next few months. By all accounts he made a good impression and even found time to collect autographs, meeting Lewis Hamilton, Ron Dennis and Formula BMW graduate Sebastian Vettel.

Monza was also the venue for final two rounds of the Formula BMW Europe Championship, so Jordan had a close-up view of his aim for the next year as well as his first chance to watch F1 live, where his ultimate ambitions lie.

But it’s back down to earth with a bump as Jordan’s next time on track is for the last round of the Super One national championship on the first weekend of October, where he is neck-and-neck with Yorkshire driver Michael Simpson in one of the toughest fought championships for years.

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