King endures tough weekend in Sochi
Date: 01 / 10 / 2019
Jordan King failed to score points for the first time this season as the MP Motorsport driver endured a difficult weekend at Sochi Autodrom in the penultimate round of 2019.
On the back of an impressive trip to Monza, Italy, where Jordan was able to score points in both of the weekend’s races and challenge for victory in the Sprint Race, he headed for Sochi, Russia, for the penultimate round of the year.
However, Jordan’s weekend didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts as the team battled issues with Jordan’s car which limited his running and left them on the backfoot. However, the team and Jordan preserved and were able to make good progress through the session to finish it in 11th place.
Still learning how to get the maximum out of the car, Jordan again continued to improve throughout the qualifying session and was able to shave off two seconds from his time in practice to record a 9th place starting position for Saturday’s Feature Race.
Jordan’s 1:48.320-minute lap time was just 0.880-second off of poleman Nyck De Vries, the smallest margin to pole position for Jordan this season.
Saturday’s feature race saw Jordan get a good start and was able to keep pace with the cars around him through the opening laps of the race. However, as the pace started to increase and the tyres began to degrade, Jordan struggled to match his competitors and made the gamble to come into the pits early.
However, despite showing promising pace during his second stint, Jordan’s plan didn’t come to fruition as the life in his tyres didn’t stay for the entirety of the race and his pace dropped off in the final stages. At the end of the hour-long Feature Race, Jordan crossed the finishing line in 12th place.
Starting Sunday’s Feature Race from 12th on the grid, Jordan made good progress in the shortened event and was able to make his way up the order. Passing three cars on his way to the chequered flag, Jordan just missed out on the points-paying positions as he came home in 9th place.
“I think overall, the weekend has been a bit frustrating. Our problems in practice put us on the back foot which is never ideal but we worked hard to progress the car and it was getting quicker every lap. Qualifying, I felt like I should have got a little more out of my lap, there was maybe a couple of tenths left out on track but considering qualifying hasn’t been our strongest trait this year, it was a good result.
The races, we struggled a bit more than we would have hoped, which is frustrating as our race pace has been really strong in the previous rounds. We made a gamble on Saturday which didn’t pay off but the pace on Sunday was a bit better so we showed good progress through the weekend.”
Jordan’s heads for Abu Dhabi in over a months time as the championship concludes at the Yas Marina Circuit on 29th – 1st December, with Jordan currently 8th in the standings with 79 points.