Difference between revisions of "Jones Racing Group"

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Revision as of 19:58, 12 August 2016

Jones Racing Group Logo.png
Jones Racing Group, frequently known as just Jones Racing, is a motor racing and manufacturing business managed and owned by Sammy Jones and based in Banbury, England. Established in the latter half of 2010, the Group is comprised of two separate entities, with all motorsport competition activities under the Jones Racing International name and all manufacturing operations under Jones Engineering. The Atlas Cars company is one of the activities making up Jones Engineering, alongside racing chassis manufacture.

In the aftermath of the inaugural F1RWRS season in 2010, Sammy Jones was one of the first drivers to establish his own team in the series, the Jones Racing F1RWRS Team, following a frustrating year driving for West Cliff Racing. In order to generate the capital necessary to found and then operate his own team though, Jones entered into a partnership with his close friend Tex Pearson, a rubber manufacturing magnate, who would bankroll the team through a three-year title sponsorship deal, using his RubberTex brand. 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.

Although initially running just the F1RWRS team, Jones quickly realised that in order to secure the future of his fledgling organisation, he needed to branch out into other championships, and by 2014, the Jones name was gracing four separate single-seater categories. It was at this point, facing the prospect of having to manufacture additional chassis for the F3RWRS series that Sammy created the modern-day Jones Racing Group, and separating the chassis manufacture and motorsport competition arms of his company. As the chassis manufacturing business grew following great success in F3RWRS and the expansion into new categories such as sportscars, and on-track success increased across the board, further restructuring was required. This resulted in the birth of the two distinct entities known today - Jones Racing International and Jones Engineering.

Jones Racing International

The Jones Racing Group organisational structure.

Jones Racing International handles the motorsport side of Jones' business and is best known for its ARWS team, National Jones Ford Team, one of the first ever driver-run outfits in the series which began competition in 2011. Since then, teams have been established in numerous other series - the F2RWRS and F3RWRS junior categories and AutoReject 3.5.

Jones Racing is one of the most successful cross-championship racing teams and has won races in every category that it has competed in. Amongst their accolades are the F1RWRS Drivers' Championship, won in 2016 with Rhys Davies, and Constructors' Championship, won in 2017. The team has also been three times runners up for the Constructors' title in 2012, 2015 and 2016. In addition Jones have won the IFRC Drivers' Championship, with Terry Hawkin in 2016, the F2RWRS Teams' Championship in 2017 and the F3RWRS Drivers' (with Nick Nurmester), Teams' and Manufacturers' Championships, all in 2016.

F1RWRS & ARWS

See Jones Racing ARWS Team.

AutoReject 3.5

Josh Carlisle in the Jones-liveried spec Scaven S11B chassis used in the 2014 RoLFS season.

Jones Racing, currently competing as National Jones Ford Juniors, has maintained an entry in the AutoReject 3.5 championship and its predecessors since its foundation in 2011 as the RoLFS series. In that time, much like the championship itself, the Jones team has had mixed fortunes, ranging from the highs of winning the Drivers' Championship in 2016, to the lows of coming last of the ten teams in the 2014 season with just three points.

To date, Jones Racing has won a total of 12 races in the series, achieved 37 podiums across the seven seasons completed so far with 466.5 points scored.

The series has provided a platform for many of the talents that have driven Jones machinery, including Terry Hawkin, Danny van Rijkens and Marko Jantscher. For the 2018 season, the Jones team will compete with James Jones and Luke Gilson-Clarke, both of whom are making their debut in the series and are part of National's "Champions of the Future" programme.

Complete LFS Cup / IRDU Rejects Cup / RoLFS / IFRC / AR3.5 Results
LFS Cup
Year Chassis Engine # Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 TC Points
2011 Scaven S11 Hart 830 SOU KYO WES AST BLA FER 4th 27
3 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Sammy Jones 7 2 5 14 11 10
4 Flag of Sweden svg.png Joey Tempest 9 8 14 1 18 12
IRDU Rejects Cup
2012 Lola FN06 Toyota CRO AUT GER BEN CHI AFR BRA MAN N/A N/A
9 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Sammy Jones C C C C C C C C
10 Flag of the United States svg.png Dan Greenlaw C C C C C C C C
Rejects of LFS
2014 Scaven S11B Judd V8 BLA SOU FER KYO WES AST 10th 3
FEA SPR FEA SPR FEA SPR FEA SPR FEA SPR FEA SPR
19 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Josh Carlisle 7 5 18 Ret 14 16 13 11
Flag of South Africa svg.png Danny van Rijkens 13 3 11 18
20 Flag of the United States svg.png Tristan Jung 11 12 6 8 10 6 15 19 11 5 12 9
2015 Scaven S15 Judd V8 BLA WES FER SOU AST KYO KYO 8th 25.5
HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA 300
19 Flag of South Africa svg.png Danny van Rijkens 3 14 6 1
Flag of France svg.png Gilles Massinion 11 DNQ 8 5 14 DNQ 14 DNQ 9
20 Flag of Ireland svg.png Connor O'Heagan 9 16 6 15 10 DNQ 2† Ret 12 DNQ 3
Flag of the United States svg.png Matt Brinson 10 DNQ
International Formula Reject Challenge
2016 Lola B06/51 Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8 AUS MEX FRA GBR ITA USA GER NED FIN BEL RUS JPN 3rd 182
HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA
12 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Terry Hawkin Ret Ret Ret DNQ 11 2 2 Ret 2 21† 1 Ret 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 12 2
13 Flag of Ireland svg.png Connor O'Heagan 5† 7 Ret 6 Ret DNQ 7 12 Ret DNQ 15 DNQ 12 9 Ret DNQ 13 9 Ret DNQ 9 Ret
Flag of Lithuania svg.png Deividas Lukauskis 17 DNQ
AutoReject 3.5
2017 Ford 3.5 V8 AUS FRA AUT ITA GBR USA NED GER BEL JPN 2nd 218
HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA
5 Flag of Italy svg.png Alessandro Marchesi 3 1 15 DNQ 13 20 15 DNQ 11 17 6 Ret 9 16 7 7 1 2 8 3
6 Flag of Austria svg.png Marko Jantscher 2 11 4 4 2 2 2 1 2 1 21 DNQ 2 2 2 Ret 7 11 9 12
2018 Ford 3.5 V8 AUS FRA AUT ITA GBR USA NED GER BEL JPN 15th 23
HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA HEA FEA
3 Flag of the Falkland Islands svg.png Luke Gilson-Clarke 13 15 15 DNQ 12 8 12 C 13 11 13 21 10 11 12 27 17 DNQ 4 10
4 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png James Jones 5 21 11 Ret 16 DNQ 12 C 5 12 6 Ret Ret DNQ 10 22 9 20 8 Ret
  • * Season in progress
  • † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
  • ‡ The IRDU Rejects Cup 2012 season was cancelled following the collapse of the series, with no races having taken place, before its revival in 2014 as the Rejects of LFS series.

F2RWRS

The Jones-liveried stock Lola B17/50 chassis used for the 2017 F2RWRS season. Nurmester and Hawkin would finish second and third overall, and Jones sealed the teams' title in its final year in the series.

For the 2014 season, refer to Scuderia Jones Italia.

Jones Racing is a former F2RWRS team that competed in its own right in the series from 2015 to 2017.

Compared to other outfits at the time, Jones was a relative latecomer to the F2RWRS grid, not running a team themselves until 2015, the second season of the series, having missed out on the entry deadline for 2014. That year, after a bitter public argument with old foe Alessandro Linari, Jones was able to secure an entry of sorts, forming Scuderia Jones Italia in partnership with Linari's organisation as a solution to the disputed Trueba team's entry. The following year however Jones was able to establish his own team, and 2015 marked the start of competition proper for Jones Racing in F2RWRS.

The team was characterised by its drivers - a number of which ended up failing to live up to the potential Jones himself saw in them. This was particularly apparent in 2016, when in protest at what Jones perceived to be unfair treatment of Terry Hawkin, he moved his protege to the IFRC (now AR3.5) series in a bid to save his career. An underpowered Ford engine and insipid performances from drivers Johannes Rueckert, Gilles Massinion and Wouter Lamberigts conspired to leave the team with eight double DNPQs and second-bottom in the final standings.

With changes and new management however, Jones re-evaluated his assessment of F2RWRS as a "career-killer" and placed Hawkin and fellow exciting prospect Nick Nurmester at the team for the 2017 season. Both drivers enjoyed considerable success, with the title going down to the wire. Both ended up on 83 points, pipped to the title by 5 points by Dan Greenlaw. The success of the two drivers however was more than enough for Jones to run away with the teams' championship.

For 2018, F2RWRS was re-branded under the new FIA ownership to become a revived FIA Formula 2 championship. Jones was offered his place in the series' new format, but declined, citing private disagreements with the FIA and a desire to focus on the AutoReject motorsport ladder instead. This didn't affect a previous agreement for Formula 3 (see below).

Complete F2RWRS Results
Year Chassis Engine # Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 TC Points
2015 Lola F2-15 Aston Martin AM-88 TAS RSA TUR MON FRA GBR GER BEL AUT ITA NED SIN JPN USA 100 6th 53
24 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Terry Hawkin 7 3 DNPQ 5 Ret 14† 9 3 1 5 6 7 16† 7 Ret
25 Flag of Japan svg.png Hansuke Shioya Ret 13 DNPQ Ret Ret 12 11 Ret 13 15
Flag of Germany svg.png Johannes Rueckert 2 Ret 7 6 Ret
2016 Lola F2-16 Ford Zetec XRF2A AUS PAC GBR ITA AUT TUR USA GER NED MON BEL MEX CHN JPN 100 14th 7
11 Flag of France svg.png Gilles Massinion Ret Ret Ret DNPQ DNPQ 12 DNPQ DNPQ 8 12 DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ Ret DNPQ Ret
12 Flag of Germany svg.png Johannes Rueckert 5 10 Ret DNPQ DNPQ 13 DNPQ DNPQ Ret 7 DNPQ DNPQ
Flag of Belgium svg.png Wouter Lamberigts DNPQ 13 DNPQ 14
2017 Lola B17/50 Ford Zetec XRF2B AUS MAL GBR ITA AUT CAN QUE USA FRA GER NED RSA BEL MON MAR JPN MAC 1st 166
23 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Terry Hawkin 2 2 3 21 1 8 4 5 4 2 1 8 15 12 2 Ret 4
24 Flag of Finland svg.png Nick Nurmester 17 1 1 2 5 19 13 3 5 Ret 5 6 1 6 3 2 6
  • † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

F3RWRS & FIA Formula 3

Jones Racing's third F3RWRS chassis, the 108, was raced by five teams in 2016. In arguably Jones' finest year in the series, Nurmester clinched the drivers title, along with team and constructor titles for Jones.

Jones Racing were an FIA Formula 3 team that also competed in the series' previous iteration, the F3RWRS from the inaugural 2014 season, up to (and including) 2018.

With an open chassis formula from the outset, Jones elected to build their own car, debuting with the 104 in 2014 which saw a young Terry Hawkin finish second in the championship. For 2015, chassis manufacture was expanded, with JLD Motorsport the first customers. The numerical superiority of teams using the Dallara chassis prevented Jones from taking the first F3RWRS constructors championship but Eric Swerts still finished in fourth place overall. In 2016 the tables were turned as four customer teams, plus the Jones team, utilised the 108 chassis and Jones driver Nick Nurmester sealed the drivers' crown, with Jones taking home both teams' and constructors' titles.

The 2017 season marked the end of the F3RWRS as a series, but with teams keen to have the best equipment, demand for the Jones chassis continued to rise. Almost half of the grid were using Jones machinery in 2017, and Franc Piscine driving for MRT took the title in a Jones car, ensuring a second consecutive constructors' title went the way of Sammy's team. His own drivers of Stan Frankham and George MacDrage had a quieter year, with MacDrage completely outclassed, preventing a defence of the teams' title.

Owing to the success of the Jones chassis, the organisation was asked by the FIA to be the sole supplier to the new one-make FIA Formula 3 championship from the 2018 season onwards. The Jones team's own drivers for 2018 were Stan Frankham, retained for a second season, and Finnish driver Tōnu Pykälistö. Frankham would mount a serious title challenge, winning five races and only loosing out in the final race by one point to finish runner-up overall. It allowed Jones to clinch another teams' championship with the support of Pykälistö who finished seventh overall.

2018 marked the final year of the Jones team competing in the category. Keen to ensure his junior teams were nurturing talent that might eventually drive for his ARWS team, Sammy Jones made the decision to move the team to AutoReject 2.0 to create a clear path that also included the Group's AutoReject 3.5 team, and away from the FIA-sponsored rival career ladder.

Complete F3RWRS & FIA Formula 3 Results
F3RWRS
Year Chassis Engine # Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 TC Points
2014 Jones 104 VW 2.0 TFSI AUS USA GBR GER BEL CHN SUR 3rd 111
7 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Terry Hawkin 4 13 4 7 19 10 1 2 1 3 21 10 4 Ret X 1
Flag of Australia svg.png Joel Melrose 7 Ret X
8 Flag of Belgium svg.png Eric Swerts 12 Ret X 4 15 9 11 NC 11 Ret 1 2 4 9 3 12 19 16 13
2015 Jones 106 BMW F31/5 AUS TUR MON USA GBR GER SPA ITA JPN SUR 4th 76
5 Flag of Italy svg.png Roberto Dinella 10 16 Ret 21 26 31 22 13 17 15 19 Ret 16 7 6 41† 30
6 Flag of Belgium svg.png Eric Swerts 29† Ret 13 Ret 51† 7 6 7 2 30 2 3 2 37† 3 Ret 1
2016 Jones 108 BMW F31/6 AUS GBR ITA PAU CAN GER ZAN BEL SMR JPN SUR 1st 335
5 Flag of Italy svg.png Roberto Dinella 23 9 6 8 1 5 Ret 32 C 2 22 Ret 18 30 31† 27† 24 C 5
6 Flag of Finland svg.png Nick Nurmester 10 Ret 2 NC 5 21 1 3 C 1 1 2 2 2 33† 1 2 C Ret
2017 Jones 110 BMW F31/7 HIG AUS GBR AUT USA ATP NED GER BEL MOR SUR 11th 41
0 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Stan Frankham Ret 17† 8 10 4 11 C 7 C C C C C C C C C C C
2 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png George MacDrage Ret 19† Ret DNQ 23† 27 C 16 C C C C C C C C C C C
FIA Formula 3
2018 Jones 115 Holden LSF3-18 JPN TUR GER TPE RUS FIN GBR FRA UAE KOR 1st 217
5 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Stan Frankham 19 1 10 10 17 1 1 2 13 14 6 6 12 7 2 1 3 1 15
6 Flag of Finland svg.png Tōnu Pykälistö 13 14 20 1 2 12 Ret 14 11 8 10 7 2 Ret 1 4 18 18 2
  • † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Young Driver Scheme

In addition to the operation of numerous racing teams, Jones Racing International has also supported a number of drivers via their young driver training scheme. In 2017, as part of their sponsorship agreement with Jones, National Petroleum took over the management of the young driver scheme which became National's "Champions of the Future" programme. Notable current members of the scheme include Terry Hawkin and Stan Frankham. Meanwhile former drivers who have been supported by Jones in their careers include Gauthier F1RWRS driver Danny van Rijkens and Roberto Dinella.

Name Team Series
Current Drivers
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Terry Hawkin Fusion Motorsports ARWS
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png James Jones National Jones AutoReject Racing AutoReject 3.5
Flag of the Falkland Islands svg.png Luke Gilson-Clarke National Jones AutoReject Racing AutoReject 3.5
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Stan Frankham Jones Racing Team Formula 3
Former Drivers
Flag of South Africa svg.png Danny van Rijkens Equipe Gauthier ARWS
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Josh Carlisle Peak Aeroracing Engineering Formula 2
Flag of Italy svg.png Roberto Dinella Adriatica Touring Racing IPC
Flag of Ireland svg.png Connor O'Heagan Blokkmonsta Racing (test driver)
Shannon Group
ARWS
IPC

Jones Engineering

Jones Engineering is mainly made up of the chassis manufacture for Jones Racing International teams, as well as customers, primarily within the F3RWRS championship where Jones chassis have enjoyed considerable success. In addition to the chassis manufacture however, the Engineering side also covers the Atlas Cars project, a road car company established by Sammy Jones and David Marshall.

Atlas Cars

Atlas Cars logo.png

After failing to revive the Triumph brand from BMW in 2015, David Marshall sought out a partnership with Sammy Jones to establish a brand new British car manufacturer and revitalise the country's failed domestic car industry. The Atlas Cars project was the result of this partnership, and saw Ford lend a considerable amount of resources to help set up the new venture. The company's first two cars, the Compact - a small hatchback, and the Vixen - a sports coupe, were based heavily on existing Ford platforms for the Fiesta and Mustang respectively. Initial concepts for the two cars were revealed in late 2016 and production is expected to begin in 2018, with both models to be manufactured initially for a seven year period.

Atlas Cars was combined with Jones' chassis manufacturing operations to form Jones Engineering during the parent Group's restructuring during 2016, and operates out of a separate facility in Coventry, with Marshall as Managing Director and Jones as CEO and Chairman.

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, whilst the road car programme under Atlas Cars also utilises the Group's chassis-numbering system.

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' championship with Dagnall and also second in constructors' title.
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 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 second overall.
105 Open-wheel formula F1RWRS 2015 Second 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 Rhys Davies champion, Jones team runners up overall for third time.
108 Open-wheel formula F3RWRS 2016 Five teams use 108 chassis. Nick Nurmester champion, Jones win team and manufacturers' titles.
109 Open-wheel formula F1RWRS 2017 2017 Constructors' Championship winner, Drivers' Championship runner-up with Mark Dagnall.
110 Open-wheel formula F3RWRS 2017 Last F3RWRS chassis before series re-brand. Wins drivers' (Franc Piscine) and manufacturers' titles.
111 Closed-cockpit LMP2 ACO Le Mans Cup 2017 Stillborn project following series cancellation.
112 Road-going hatchback N/A (road model) Est. 2018-2025 The Atlas Compact - one of the first two Atlas Cars vehicles.
113 Road-going sports coupe N/A (road model) Est. 2018-2025 The Atlas Vixen - one of the first two Atlas Cars vehicles.
114 Open-wheel formula ARWS 2018 First Jones ARWS car following F1RWRS championship re-brand.
115 Open-wheel formula Formula 3 2018 First chassis design for the one-make series.
116 Closed-cockpit sports prototype FIA Prototype Challenge 2019 Design under development for future FIA Prototype Challenge entry.
117 Open-wheel formula ARWS 2019 Design under development for 2019 ARWS season.