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Cardiff driver scores two podium finishes at
Spa-Francorchamps.
Cardiff based racing driver Nick Jones finished 3rd and 2nd in the two races at the world famous home of the Belgium F1 Grand Prix last weekend.
The 18 year-old A Levels student from Castleton is competing in the Belgian Renault-Sport Clio Cup in his second season of circuit racing after a stunning rookie season in 2007 that saw him rack up six race wins and third place overall in Club Class in the Dunlop Mini Challenge.
Having been named the ‘Mini Challenge Driver of the Year’ by Modern Mini magazine last year the Kings Monkton pupil continues to compete for the Thetford based Advent Motorsport team in 2008 as he takes another step on the ladder to achieving his ultimate goal of a career in Nascar racing.
“The Clio is five seconds per lap faster than a Mini and has a special ‘racing’ sequential gearbox,” says Jones, who once again is being sponsored by J&R Business Services. “It feels much more like a racing car than the Mini.”
“I raced at Spa in the Mini last year. It’s such a brilliant race track” Nick explained. “The thrill of standing on the F1 podium for the trophy presentation is something I will remember for a long time”.
Having earned wins at Snetterton, Pembrey and Brands Hatch last season the rapid Welshman has now take on some of Europe’s best touring car aces and beaten them. The Renault-Sport championship has a further six races to go at circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps and Zolder in Belgium and the world famous Nurburgring in Germany.
“The series has made me feel really welcome,” says Jones who, as the only Welshman contesting the championship was invitied to the European Motorshow as a special guest of the Clio Cup organisers earlier this year.
“I’m racing in front of the factory touring car teams so it’s a great opportunity to make a good impression on them.”
22nd June 2008
WRDA announces nominations for Tom Pryce Award
The Welsh Racing Drivers Association has announced the nominations for its new prestigious Tom Pryce Award. WRDA Secretary Robert Allender explained, "Its a way for us to honour the achievements of young Welsh drivers whilst preserving the memory of Tom as a beacon of achievement. Tom has become legendary as the only Welsh driver so far to win a Formula One race (the 1975 Brands Hatch Race of Champions), also he is the only Welshman so far to take pole position and lead a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix (The British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1975). Tom also scored two podium finishes in his short career, and was tipped as a future World Champion. More importantly, he was not only famed for his car control but also as a person who was unaffected by his fame. We can certainly see something of Tom in the current batch of new drivers and hope this award will show them how much we appreciate their efforts."
Nominations for 2007 in Alphabetic order
Alex Jones. 2006 British TKM 'O' Plate Kart Champion
Nick Jones. race winner in the 2007 Dunlop Great & British Mini Challenge
Hywel Lloyd. 2007 Barc Formula Renault Champion & Barc Formula Renault Winter Series Champion
Rhys Lloyd. Winner Class B . 2007 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship
Alex Morgan. 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship points scorer
Jake Rattenbury. 2007 Playstation Ginetta GT Junior Championship points scorer
Richard Singleton. 2006 Barc Formula Renault Champion & 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Series Champion
Short listing will take place next week and the winner will then be judged by WRDA Committee. The trophy will be presented at the Welsh Championship Awards Dinner Dance at the Copthorne Hotel in Cardiff on Saturday 8th March
Cardiff driver to take on Europeans.
(JANUARY 2008)
Cardiff driver to race in Belgium in ’08.
Cardiff based racing driver Nick Jones launched his 2008 campaign in fine style at the European Motor Show in Brussels over the weekend.
The 18 year-old A Levels student from Castleton will tackle the Belgian Renault Clio Cup in his second season of circuit racing after a stunning rookie season that saw him rack up six race wins and third place overall in the Dunlop Mini Challenge.
Having been named the ‘Mini Challenge Driver of the Year by Modern Mini magazine last year the Kings Monkton pupil will continue to compete for the Thetford based Advent Motorsport team in 2008 as he takes another step on the ladder to achieving his ultimate goal of a career in touring car racing.
“The Clio is five seconds per lap faster than a Mini and has a special ‘racing’ sequential gearbox,” says Jones, who once again is being sponsored by J&R Business Services. “It feels much more like a racing car than the Mini.”
Having earned wins at Snetterton, Pembrey and Brands Hatch last season the rapid Welshman will now take on some of Europe’s best up and coming touring car aces at circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps and Zolder in Belgium and the world famous Nurburgring in Germany.
“The series has made me feel really welcome,” says Jones who, as the only Briton contesting the championship was invitied to the European Motorshow as a special guest of the Clio Cup organisers. “A lot of races support the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) and the Le Mans Series so the crowds will be huge.
“I’ll be racing in front of the factory Mercedes and Audi touring car teams so it’ll be a great opportunity to make a good impression on them.”
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Heysel, 19th of January 2008 The registered drivers for the new Clio Cup Belgium 2008 gathered, this afternoon, in the overcrowded restaurant of the Renault stand on the Auto Motor Show.
And while general public turned with much attention around the Renault F1 not only making Fernando Alonso dream, the large hundred guests of Renault Belgium Luxembourg attended in a room of Hall 11, the official presentation of the 2008 championship by
"A revival of the Clio Cup placed under the signs of user-friendliness in the paddock and the fair play, as well on the track as outwards," the ex-quadruple winner of the 24H of Francorchamps insisted at the beginning of its speech. "Those who want to play the dodgemcars have to go to the fair"
No happiness for the body workers. "Our team of technical scrutinereers and race direction is well trained. It will have as instructions to apply the zero tolerance. The rules of sportsmanship will have to be followed very strictly as formerly the young Formula Renault 1.6 drivers."
Everyone is prevented. And there will be a lot of people since the list consists already of 19 registered cars. It will be necessary to add ten cars for some Dutchmen but also for the young Belgian wolves; among them probably
But first of all let us evoke the certainty with the registration of at least four cars for the team Racing for
Waiting for the confirmation of the return of another champion, the team of Wim Coekelbergs is happy to announce the participation of Pierre-Yves Hardenne. Fascinated of motor sports, the ex-husband of Justine Henin chose for the Clio Cup to start in competition.
Even if Jean-Baptist Malherbe and Ronnie Latinne are not unknown in the promotion formulas of the brand with the rhombus, we are also very happy to welcome newcomers resulting from other series like Laurent Culot, Martin Lucas, Romain Troonbeeckx or Olivier Meurens.
The 2008 Clio Cup will also be the occasion to discover newcomers like Mathieu Novali, the British drivers Nick Jones and Rob Austin or the French drivers Marc-Antoine Colas and Thierry Boetsch taken along by the senior Patrick Perrin who comes back with great happiness for all.
Lastly, the Guest Car aligned by Renault Belgium Luxembourg will give the opportunity to some stars of other sports or the show business to discover the joy of driving in the middle of a platoon during the six meetings programmed in Zolder (Belgian Race Kick Off and Truck GP), Francorchamps (World Series by Renault, 12H and Racing Festival) and in Nürburgring (World Series).
"During the two biggest World Series meetings, we will drive with our German neighbours, while on the 12H we will welcome the competitors of the Swiss championship," specified the G.O. "The 2008 season will officially begin with two Tests Days, the first is on March 25 (whole day) in Francorchamps and the following the morning of Thursday April 3 in Zolder."
Among the main 2008 novelties revealed on this Saturday is the change of a motor mechanic for all the customers of Cup. "All the cars will have to be equipped with the new 2008 engine kit (screw rod and pulley). The engines will have to be controlled on the bench with our new motor mechanic Fabio Lazzerini (R-Tec) before being sealed for the first race"
This to guaranty a perfect equity. New Michelin gums (more rigid and more enduring) especially developed by Renault Sport will be imposed for the two races of 25' (with a specified number of laps) whose grids will be determined by the two qualifications (qualif 1 for race 1 and qualif 2 for race 2).
And a new service of spare parts will be ensured on each meeting by the company AXL Gold Racing of Alex Parmentier.
This to reduce the costs for the only promotion formula for windscreen wiper cars in No the doubt, Renault and Track one Time really do all their best for the launching of the 2008 Clio Cup.
Entry list on 19-01-2008 :
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Double win for Jones on home soil.
(Pembrey 23rd September 2007) Kings Monkton School student Nicholas Jones underlined his promise as one of Wales’ brightest young driving talents with a brace of wins in the most recent round of the Dunlop Great and British Mini Challenge Championship at Pembrey last weekend.
Looking to capitalise on home circuit knowledge the 17 year-old A Levels student overcame an accident in testing on Friday to muscle his 120bhp Mini Cooper around the 1.5-mile venue fastest in class during Saturday’s qualifying session and then kept the rest of the Club class field at bay to record his third win of the season on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday was the big day with two races, incuding a 30-minute ‘Mini’ endurance and once again the Cardiff based driver showed his prowess with a fighting drive to second in the first race. In damp conditions Jones had to battle back from a brief off-track excursion to pass two of his main championship rivals in the closing stages including a fine outside move around the ultra-quick Spitfires corner to finally seal second spot.
Sitting fourth in the Club class championship standings heading into the weekend Jones knew Sunday’s final race could prove critical to his bid for a class title in his first year in the series and, in front of a large crowd of family, friends and sponsors the ex Kart racer duly delivered.
Avoiding a multiple car collision at the first corner in which Jones had to take evasive action onto the grass the Welshman fought tooth and nail with championship leader Jenny Ryan at speeds well in excess of 110mph before grabbing the lead five laps from home with a late out-braking move into the infamous Hatchetts Hairpin.
But with Ryan and experienced series runner Keith Issatt clinging to his rear bumper Jones couldn’t afford to relax for a moment and held his nerve in the slippery conditions to take the chequered flag less than half a second in front of his main title rival for his fourth, and possibly most important, victory of the year.
Leaving his home circuit as the top Club class points scorer of the weekend Jones now moves to the series finale at the world famous Brands Hatch circuit in Kent third in the championship but still with an outside shot of taking second spot.
THIS PRESS RELEASE HAS BEEN GENERATED ON BEHALF OF NICK JONES RACING LTD BY OSB MEDIA.
Stunning Mini debut for
Snetterton (April 29th 2007): Cardiff based racer Nick Jones enjoyed a dream Dunlop Mini Challenge debut at Snetterton last weekend, winning his class in two out of three races and taking an early season championship lead.
Stunning series regulars in the highly competitive Touring Car feeder series, the KCS Transport/Stones & Co backed driver turned the fastest THREE laps in qualifying on Saturday, which earned him Club class pole position for each of the weekend’s three races.
Despite never having raced one of the race-prepared Mini Cooper’s prior to the weekend, the 17 year-old Kings Monkton School student showed no fear as he fought through a feisty pack of traffic to take a fantastic maiden win by just three-tenths of a second in the first race on Saturday evening, setting the fastest lap of the race along the way.
Buoyed by his first car racing class win, Jones then claimed a lights to flag victory in his Advent Motorsport machine on Sunday morning, heading a pack of four other cars throughout the race and taking the chequered flag less than half a car length ahead of closest rival Graham Parsons.
The final race of the weekend once again saw Jones lead the 16-strong Club class away from the standing start but on this occasion he had to give way to Parsons who, at 20 years his senior, finally pushed the talented teenager off the top step of the podium. However Jones crossed the line in a close second place to complete a weekend Advent Motorsport team boss Andrew Crighton described as ‘fantastic.’
“I’m still trying to take it all in,” said Jones, who is not yet old enough to drink the champagne he was spraying. “ I have to thank Andrew and the team for giving me such a fast car. They were the three hardest races of my life and there is still a lot I can do to improve but for now I’m just happy that I’m competitive and I can’t wait for the next race.”
Thanks to his consistency Jones finishes the weekend as the championship leader although he is keenly aware that this is just the start of a long season.
“It’s too early to talk about the championship,” Jones continued. “There are at least a dozen drivers who have got the speed to win judging by this weekend’s performances, I’m just happy that we’re in that group.”
APRIL 2007
Jones, who signed for multiple championship winning outfit Advent Motorsport last November, has spent the winter months testing at several of the tracks he will race at in 2007, topping the Club Class runners on each occasion.
17 strong club class – also looking to take scalps from the more powerful S class runners
Speaking at the Mini Challenge media launch at Snetterton last week
Nick’s championship challenge will begin at the Snetterton circuit in
“The original goal was to learn the circuits, stay out of trouble and hopefully pick up a few class podiums. Now after testing I feel that I should be a regular podium contender also looking for class wins
“We didn’t want to get too confident before the season started, but I honestly believe I’ve got a chance to win this year
Nicholas’ chances of on-track success have been helped thanks to sponsorship from local businesses KCS Transport Ltd, Stones & Co and J&R Business Services Ltd
It’s a Mini adventure for Cardiff racer. (Nov. 2006)
Cardiff based teenager Nick Jones is ready to hit the big time on the track after signing to drive in the 2007 Dunlop Great and British Mini Challenge.
Not only will the 16-year old get to race on some of Europes greatest circuits next year such as Brands Hatch and Spa Francorchamps, he has also been selected for the first ever ‘Elite Drivers’ A-Levels course with the Race Drivers Academy at Silverstone and Loughborough University.
The Kings Monkton School student will drive for top team Advent Motorsport and has shown a great turn of speed in his first few races as he prepares to take on some of Britain’s best saloon car talent.
“I can’t wait for the season to start,” says Nick, who made his racing debut this year in the Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship. “I’ve been really lucky to find a team like Advent who have helped me a lot. Although i’ll be a rookie in Minis next year I hope to be challenging for class honours from the word go.”
Having started his career at the Llandow Kart Club Nick has already represented Wales twice in the Karting Internations but will now focus his efforts on circuit racing in a bid to achieve some rather lofty goals.
“My goal is to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the British Touring Car Championship,” says Nick, who took three class podium finishes in six races this year. “I know how tough that will be but I’m prepared to put in all the work necessary to make it possible.”
Having earned his ‘racing stripes’ in a Proton this year, Nick says he is ready to tackle the 120mph Minis and is already hunting sponsorship for a championship that has its own TV programme on Sky.
“We’ve got some great ideas of how to make sponsoring me different and fun for the investors,” says Nick, whose car will be on display at the Autosport Show in Birmingham in January. “Motorsport isn’t cheap but we believe that we have a unique platform with which to promote a company.”