Jensen Racing

The racing season started on April 9th, Easter Monday. To say the track was wet would be a massive understatement, it was soaked and as such looked more like a lake than a race circuit!

Qualifying saw the Formula Ford grid tentatively exit the pits and commence the 15 minute open pit-lane qualifying session. Jensen quickly settle into his first session back since August 2011, and found himself nearing the front end of the grid with his initial times. After the 15 minutes came to a close, Jensen found himself having qualified in a respectable returning position of 4th, but he had high exceptions on being able to improve on this during the race.

Come the Race Jensen was determined to make a rocket start, and that he did, moving from 4th to 2nd on the opening lap of the race. He gradually opened up a comfortable gap from 3rd, until an accident and a stranded car saw the deployment of the safety car for 2 laps. With the rest of the grid now re-bunched and right on Jensen’s tail, the restart saw many drivers fighting to take the podium spots, however Jensen continued his strong and mature drive to bring the car home in a solid 2nd position in the tricky conditions.

Tricky conditions didn't slow Jensen down

With a good set of points scored in terrible conditions, Jensen is looking forward to the Motors TV Live raceday come May the 7th, an event that saw him win both races in 2011.

Follow Jensen Racing on Facebook!

Steven is looking for sponsorship for the 2012 season. Watch this video to find out a little more about Steven and Jensen Racing.

Potential sponsors can contact Steven on the Contact page.

The sun sets on Steven’s championship challenge!

A bright dry Saturday morning greeted the drivers for their qualifying session. This meant consistent track conditions which was good news, as being a Double-Header the drivers two best qualifying times would determine their grid start positions.

Steven was flying from the start and was on pole position for both races when qualifying was stopped early due to a very sad incident involving a fellow driver. Qualifying resumed on the Sunday morning, but the interval had given other drivers the opportunity to make adjustments to their cars, and in some cases also fitting new tyres, and Steven’s pole times were beaten, demoting him to 3rd on the grid in both races.

Race 1:
This first race of the day was your classic Formula Ford race. Although Steven made a good start and was all over the back of the pole position car challenging for the lead, but in trying to attack, he was later pipped by the car behind demoting him to a still very respectable 3rd overall.

Race 2:
Sadly Race 2 was probably one of the worst races Steven has ever competed in. Although once again showing great pace, and challenging for the lead positions, another driver defended in an over-agressive manner, choosing to drive into Steven’s car causing a dangerous collision. This saw Steven’s car take to the grass and launch into the air. The impact upon landing was very hard on both the car, and Steven, and as such he was forced to retire for the rest of the season putting a definative end to his Championship hopes.

Although not the best-ever quality of picture, the image below shows Steven’s car with the nosecone pointing at the floor, mid-way through it’s airborne pursuit.

Mid-flight

At last the sun was shining for the two days of racing at Castle Combe race circuit this weekend.

The race meeting was the second double-header race weekend of the calendar, and qualifying followed the same format as the earlier double header, with your first fastest qualifying lap determining your start position for race one, and your second fastest lap time determining your start position for race two.

Due to a lack of testing time compared to many other drivers, Steven was fairly content with his qualifying of 4th position for Saturday’s race, and 3rd on the grid for Sunday, and felt that he would be able to improve on his times for the main race.

Race 1:
Steven made a strong start in race one, and by the end of lap one had already gained a position, and was now running well in 3rd position. It took him a few laps to carve his way past into 2nd place, by which point the leader had already made a substantial break for it, meaning an impossible challenge in trying to close him down. Therefore Steven settled for a strong second place finish, and a good handful of points.

Follow Jensen Racing on Facebook!

Race 2:
Sunday’s race saw Steven take up his 3rd place starting position, but an initial bad get-away meant that Steven dropped back to 4th and then spent several laps trying to navigate his way past a substantially slower car. By the time Steven had recovered his 3rd position on track, the leading duo had amassed a three second lead, however travelling an average of 0.6 second a lap faster than the leading duo for the remaining laps, allowed Steven to close them right down by lap ten of the race.

Another podium finish

Sadly an incident at the Esses caused a red flag situation, and the race was immediately stopped, and so was Steven’s chance to improve on his podium finish.

Two podium finishes, with no testing, and tyres that quite frankly most drivers wouldn’t even test on, was not a bad result at all! – Bring on the next Double Header meeting!

In other news, Steven’s superfan Jake was dressed for the occassion and sported his new Jensen Racing #1 fan attire!

Super fan Jake

The day started with a 20 minute qualifying session and the welcomed introduction of the new a double header qualification rule, stating your fastest lap would define your first race position, and you second fastest lap in qualifying would decide your position for the second race of the day. We were fairly content with our attempts and managed to pop in times to warrant us starting 3rd in the first race, and 2nd in the second race.

Using all of the track at Bobbies

Image courtesy of Harry Cobbold

After a few adjustments to the handling of the car, we were confident that we had the pace to win the first race, and indeed this proved to be the case. We certainly had the speed, however not quite enough luck. After a good start we managed to get into 2nd place, and both Jensen and the lead car started to break from the pack. Jensen worked his way into the lead and set fastest lap during the race battle, but was however still not quick enough to get away in what was possibly one of the closest races of the 2011 season so far. A missed gear change allowed the 2nd placed car back through into the lead. As 3rd place man Josh Fisher had now closed in to join the action, it became a 3-way fight for the lead, positions swapping several times over the course of just one lap.

Unfortunately Jensen ended up being caught out whilst again attacking for the lead, and was demoted to 3rd place where he finished. Not a bad result as it was still a podium finish, however having caught the pole man, and led twice in the race, both Jensen and the team felt we had the car beneath us to win and should have done so.

Leading the race

The second race of the day saw Jensen start in 2nd position. This race was much less of an actual race, sadly hindered by multiple accidents which initially brought out a safety car for several laps, a less than regulatory re-start, and later a premature end to the race via the instigation of red flags. However Jensen retained his 2nd place grid start, and brought the car home unscathed, ready for better result at the next double header on 23rd & 24th July.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Our day started with a very wet and tricky qualifying session that was riddled with slower traffic, but we managed to eventually find space on track and popped in a quick enough time to place us on the front row of the grid in P2. A position we were all very happy with considering the Spectrum’s infamous difficult handling characteristics in wet conditions.

A very wet race at Castle Combe Circuit

A good start, saw Jensen maintain 2nd place, however he soon realised it was going to be a struggle to hang-on to this position for 12 laps. The tracks conditions had worsened since qualifying, with an unhealthy amount of oil glistening on top of the water, thus providing a further lack of traction for the already misbehaving Spectrum.

After several accidents, by a selection of unfortunate back-markers, and a race cut short by both a safety car, and a strangely premature chequered flag, Jensen still managed to steer the car home in 5th place overall, and 2nd in class.

Although not the result that either Jensen or the team would have hoped for after the success of the previous TV meeting, we are pleased to have the car home in one piece in what was a day riddled with accidents due to the very tricky conditions. We shall look forward to the next race, where hopefully the sun will shine down on us again!

Steven Jensen was thrilled to bring home a double victory at the Castle Combe Motors TV race day on 2nd May.

After a disappointing start to the season which left him with a badly damaged car, and a slightly jilted perception of the 2011 racing season, Steven bounced back at round two of the Castle Combe Formula Ford Championship race day with a double victory.

Confidently claiming pole in the mornings qualifying session, Jensen then went on to win both races of the day, all of which were broadcast live on Motors TV to 39 countries around the world.

Steven Jensen celebrates after a double race win weekend

Jensen thanked the hard work of his Kevin Mills racing team and that of his father Erling Jensen for working under extreme pressure to get the car ready for the meeting after the damage it sustained in round one of the championship.

We’re pleased to say that the test day on Thursday the 24th of March at Castle Combe went amazingly well. It was brilliant sunshine, but not too hot, and the track was fairly quiet with regards to traffic.

The first session saw Steven break into the 1 minute 11’s with relative ease, leaving himself and the team hopeful for a good day to come, and they weren’t dissapointed with Steven achieving a personal best lap time breaking comfortably into the 1 minute 10’s.

We now confidently look forward to the next test day and the opening round of the season.

So here it is! – The start of the 2011 racing season!

We’re all geared up and ready to go! – We’ll be taking the car for it’s 2011 debut run next week. Look out for updates here or on our Facebook page!