Jones Racing Group
Jones Racing Group, frequently known as just Jones Racing, is a motor racing business managed and owned by Sammy Jones and based in Banbury, England. Established in the latter half of 2010, Jones Racing Group is best known for its F1RWRS team, Castrol Jones Racing, the first ever driver-run outfit in the series. Since then, Jones has gone on to run outfits in numerous other series - the F2RWRS and F3RWRS junior categories and the RoLFS series and it's successor, the IFRC.
Creation and Inaugural Season
Jones Racing was created in the aftermath of the inaugural F1RWRS season in 2010 in which Sammy Jones drove for the West Cliff Racing team alongside Douglas Mann, with both drivers suffering with terrible strategic calls from the pit wall, race after race. Despite Sammy picking up two third places at the beginning of the year, both drivers had had enough. With all the top seats at other teams secured for the upcoming season, Sammy went out on a limb and was the first driver to create his own team in the series, the Jones Racing F1RWRS Team. In order to generate the money necessary to run his own team, Jones went into partnership with his close friend Tex Pearson, a rubber manufacturing magnate, who would bankroll the team through title sponsorship. Pearson's rubber chicken division, RubberTex Chickens was the chosen brand for sponsorship, and the deal between the two men was agreed for three seasons. The team name was altered as a result to RubberTex-Jones Racing, and during the next two seasons was frequently shortened to RTJ Racing, or RJR. A brand new facility was built on the Thorpe Way Industrial Estate in Banbury specifically for use by Jones' team. It was an ideal location, close to where Jones had been born and grown up and was famous for the other motorsport outfits that had been based there, including the Marussia and Simtek F1 teams, Dave Richards' Prodrive operation, and Kenny Roberts Snr's MotoGP team.
Cars built to date
Jones Racing Group has designed and manufactured a range of cars since it's creation. Primarily specialising in open-wheeled single seaters, they have also diversified into other areas such as sportscars, and have engineered manufacturer-supported programs in rallying.
Model | Category | Series | Period used | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
100 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2011 | First car designed and built. Won with Chris Dagnall. |
101 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2012 | Runner up in drivers' (with Dagnall) and constructors' titles. |
102 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2013 (planned) | Car originally designed for 2013 F1RWRS season. Scrapped after rule changes. |
102B | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2013 | Heavily modified MJR-102 built to meet new rules. Won on debut with Kay Lon. |
103 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2014 | Beginning of greater partnership with Ford in latter half of the season. |
104 | Open-wheel formula | F3RWRS | 2014 | First car built outside of F1RWRS regulations. Terry Hawkin 2nd overall. |
105 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2015 | 2nd in constructors' title, Rhys Davies and Rosco Vantini 2nd and 3rd respectively. |
106 | Open-wheel formula | F3RWRS | 2015 | First Jones car sold to customers. |
107 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2016 | |
108 | Open-wheel formula | F3RWRS | 2016 | Five teams use 302 chassis. |
109 | Open-wheel formula | F1RWRS | 2017 | Car currently in development for 2017. |
110 | Open-wheel formula | F3RWRS | 2017 | Car currently in development for 2017. |
111 | Closed-cockpit LMP2 | ACO Le Mans Cup | 2017 | First Jones sportscar. |