King no longer satisfied with being top rookie

Jordan King betrayed no signs of race-rustiness as he returned to the cockpit for the first time in five weeks for the annual Masters of Formula 3 event at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
Jordan King finished fifth in the Masters of Formula 3 event.Jordan King finished fifth in the Masters of Formula 3 event.
Jordan King finished fifth in the Masters of Formula 3 event.

A superb second-fastest among the 24 high-calibre contenders in opening practice in his Volkswagen-powered Dallara single-seater, the Stoneleigh driver closed out qualifying a disappointing ninth, something he admitted was down to “losing a fair chunk of time in two ultra-fast corners”.

However, despite overtaking opportunities being at a premium and 15 laps spent behind the significantly slower Tom Blomqvist, King took the chequered flag in fifth to once again claim the status of top rookie.

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But as the 19-year-old looks forward to the second half of the campaign, he is no longer interested in being best of the new boys - he simply wants to be the best, full-stop.

“We were definitely quick enough to have fought for the podium so it was annoying that we had to start the race down in ninth,” said the Hugo Boss brand ambassador.

“But we recovered well and it was really pleasing to be mixing it up at the front again.

“I’m pushing myself really hard and going into every meeting now expecting to be competing at the sharp end, and there’s no other F3 rookie who is consistently doing that.

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“At the start of the year, 
if you’d offered me a podium by the end of the season, I’d have taken it, but we’ve already achieved that so the next step is to start winning races.

“We’re very nearly there.”

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