Jones Racing

Jones Racing is a motor racing team managed and owned by Sammy Jones based in Banbury, England. From its establishment in the latter half of 2010, the organisation has expanded into many disciplines. Jones Racing is best known for its F1RWRS team, currently Castrol Jones Racing, the first ever driver-run outfit in the series. For the 2014 season, Jones as the lead driver will be partnered by Daniel Melrose. As well as the F1RWRS team, Jones also runs outfits in the F2RWRS and F3RWRS. The organisation also ran a team in the F1RLFS/IRDU Rejects Cup, which was where Castrol's association with the team originally began. The category has since been reformed as the Rejects of LFS series, which the team has entered once again.

Creation
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 3rd 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. 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.

F2RWRS History
In the latter half of 2013, Jones looked to expand his operation into the newly created feeder series for the F1RWRS, titled the F2RWRS. However, caught up in the day to day running of his team, Jones missed the cut for submitting an entry to the new series, and consequently would miss out for the 2014 season. Despite that setback, he quickly announced his intention to have a team on standby should a place become available during the season, and became first official reserve team.

The 2014 Season - Scuderia Jones Italia
Following the sale of the F1RWRS Trueba Racing Team to Scuderia Alitalia, an issue arose over the position of Trueba's F2RWRS team, Trueba Junior Team. Initially Scuderia Alitalia declared their ownership of it, as a direct extension of the F1RWRS operation, but Sammy Jones lodged a protest against the move, declaring that as the official reserve team, he'd have rights to any team that closed down or went up for sale in the series. Consequently with the governing body's permission, Scuderia Alitalia and Jones Racing took joint control of the team, renamed to Scuderia Jones Italia. Terry Hawkin was given a drive in the team in place of Chinese Du Lei, with Marco Bizzarri retained. The team became active from the Belgian race onwards, and despite a double retirement from both drivers, at the next race in Hungary, Hawkin gave the team it's first ever podium, with Bizzarri scoring also in 7th. An 8th place followed for both drivers, Bizzarri at Brno and Hawkin at the next race at Monza, before Hawkin took another 3rd place finish at Estoril. Following his podium, Hawkin then returned to compete only in the F3RWRS in order to remain eligible for that category, and so his replacement at Jones Italia was rookie Irishman Connor O'Heagan, another of Jones' young proteges. O'Heagan showed his promise with some excellent qualifying performances, despite more mediocre results on race day, before Hawkin returned to the seat for the final race of the year, the FedEx 100, where he took an emphatic victory with Bizzarri behind him to give the team a 1-2 finish, ensuring the partnership between Jones Racing and Scuderia Alitalia ended in the best possible fashion. From there, the team became the sole property of Alitalia, with Jones compensated with half the value of the team.

The 2015 Season
Hawkin was already guaranteed a place at the newly created Castrol Jones Racing F2RWRS team for the 2015 season, which initially lined up a supply of Triumph Motor Company engines. The manufacturer was revived with the help of BMW who sold their rights to the name to wealthy English businessman David Marshall. Marshall wanted to take the Triumph name into motorsport competition through a series of partnerships and engine deals, one of which presented itself as the tender process for new engine suppliers for the F2RWRS for the 2015 season. Attracted by the idea of a locally-based British engine supply, Sammy Jones signed an agreement with Marshall to use Triumph engines in the F2RWRS should they be selected once the tender process was complete. Ultimately however, the bid was rejected, and instead Jones was forced to change tactics and signed a deal with Aston Martin instead. Aston were already running their own team, and had won three races in 2014 with Andrej Kremnicky, and so looked like a promising partner with which to strike a deal with. With the engine fitted to the stock Lola chassis supplied to all the teams, Jones and his outfit were ready, confident that with Hawkin, they'd pass pre-qualifying with ease. After negotiations with a number of drivers, Hawkin was eventually partnered with Japanese driver Hansuke Shioya who had a year's experience of the F2RWRS having driven for the Kit-Kat Warriors team in 2014.

F3RWRS History
Following on from the announcement of the creation of the F2RWRS a couple of months earlier, at the close of the 2013 season of the F1RWRS, a second feeder series was established, the Formula 3 Rejects World Race Series. This was a third tier designed to be the first step on a ladder that would lead firstly to the F2RWRS and then onto the F1RWRS. Having missed out in the F2RWRS, and eager to expand his team into new categories, Sammy Jones was one of the first to formally apply for an entry to the new series. Attracted by the freedom in chassis design and engine supplier, it was the ideal environment for Jones Racing to test out their chassis building capability, with the potential to supply customer teams in the future.

The 2014 Season - Heroic Hawkin Brings Success
Initially following his application it seemed as if Jones' team would struggle, as early on it was announced that the team's main backer and title sponsor in the F1RWRS, Castrol, would not commit to the same level of sponsorship for Jones' junior teams. As a result, his F3RWRS team wouldn't have a title sponsor, and would rely heavily on personal sponsors from the drivers hired for the season. The first driver to be hired was young Englishman Terry Hawkin and was soon followed by Belgian Eric Swerts. Both were exciting young prospects, and were expected to be joined by a third driver as Jones had originally made an application for a three car team. Instead, he withdrew the third car for budget reasons, stating that they wanted 'to make sure we do things properly in our first year before making such a big commitment to the series'. Each driver brought with them enough personal finance to allow the team to design their own chassis, the JR-300, with engines supplied by Volkswagen who had an excellent pedigree at this level of competition. This, Jones believed, would give both drivers the best chance possible to prove themselves in the tough motorsport world.

The season began well for the team with Hawkin clinching two 4th places at the first round of the year in Australia, and Swerts taking another 4th place in the United States. From there however, Hawkin made a temporary move into the F2RWRS to fill in for the injured Laurent Seron at the Gillet team. His replacement at Jones Racing was Daniel Melrose's younger brother, Joel Melrose in time for the third round at the team's home race in Britain. The weekend proved to be a disaster however as Joel got involved in a number of high profile incidents, whilst Eric had an anonymous three races. With Hawkin returning for the German round anyway, it saved Sammy Jones from firing Melrose from the team. It was there where the team finally came good, with Hawkin totally dominating the weekend, taking pole, two wins and a second place, and fastest lap for all three races. Swerts backed him up with the other win in race two, and followed Hawkin home in race 3, to give Jones Racing three consecutive race wins, and two consecutive one-two's. Hawkin comfortably took the round victory, and his and the team's performance put both in an excellent position in their respective championships. At the next round at Spa, Belgium, the team didn't fare quite so well as their German domination, but both Hawkin and Swerts took a third place each, with the team now enjoying a total of 7 podiums in 6 races. China proved to be another trying weekend, with Swerts suffering from anonymity once again, whilst Hawkin, having taken 4th in race 1, was punted out by Max Torbani in race 2, putting a premature end on his weekend. With just the Surfers SuperPrix left on the calender, revived after a brief hiatus after being dumped by the F1RWRS, both team and Hawkin were all but out of contention for their championships. Nonetheless, it didn't stop Hawkin from taking the fastest lap of the race en route to victory, capping off a fine season for the Englishman who finished second overall in the drivers' championship. With the drivers' combined points total, Jones Racing finished a solid third in the inaugural F3RWRS season, with 111 points.

The 2015 Season
Despite his somewhat occasional lacklustre performances, Swerts was offered the chance to remain with Jones Racing for the F3RWRS' 2015 season, and took the opportunity to re-sign, alongside a part-time commitment to Gillet's F2RWRS campaign. To partner the Belgian, Jones initially brought across another young Brit in Josh Carlisle, who had driven for Jones in the Rejects of LFS 2014 season. Following poor performances however Carlisle was replaced by Danny van Rijkens and subsequently filled in as a substitute for Falik Arrows Juniors in the F3RWRS for the final two rounds of the year when their driver Yuka Katayama was promoted to the F2RWRS. Jones however was prepared to give Carlisle another chance for 2015, though there was a protest from Falik Arrows over the legality of Carlisle signing for Jones Racing, due to a clause in his contract stating that Falik Arrows had an option to sign him for the 2015 season. Ultimately despite at first resolving the matter amicably, Jones changed his position, and hired Italian Roberto Dinella instead, allowing Carlisle to be signed by Falik Arrows. Dinella also came off the back of experience in the RoLFS having driven for Grands Travaux Inutiles in the final two races of the 2014 season, and brought with him healthy backing from Italian metals firm Lampre. With Dinella an untried rookie in the series, it was expected that Swerts would be leading the team, despite his commitment to the F2RWRS as well. The team's engine supply was switched, with VW pulling out of the series, fellow German manufacturer BMW stepped in to fill the gap in partnership between Jones Racing and JLD Motorsport, a subsidiary of the BMW-backed Melrose Racing Team. JLD would use the JR-301 chassis, and in return Jones Racing would take a supply of the same BMW engines as JLD.

The 2011 Season - Mired In The Midfield
The inaugural season of the F1RLFS Cup brought with it a fair bit of success for the Jones Racing team. Having quickly found a title sponsor in Castrol, they had a firm footing with which to go racing. In terms of drivers, Sammy Jones dovetailed his driving and managerial duties in the F1RWRS to participate in this series too, and signed inexperienced rookie Joey Tempest to drive alongside him. Tempest was a young, quick Swede, and Sammy saw the potential the youngster had, and hoped to nurture him to greater things. This talent brought Tempest a pole and race win at the Eurobrun Aston 500, but otherwise he had a fairly poor year, scoring on only one other occasion, an 8th place. Sammy's best result was only a second place at Kyoto, but he scored and finished more consistently and ended ahead of his Swedish protege at the close of the year. With the team securing 4th place in the teams' standings, it was by and large a season to celebrate, but Sammy felt he could no longer take the risk of keeping Joey in the second seat, and Tempest was dropped at the end of the season.

The 2012 Season - Over Before It Started
To replace the dropped Tempest, Sammy Jones signed up American Dan Greenlaw to drive alongside him for the 2012 season of the now re-named IRDU Rejects Cup. The re-naming of the series however was the first sign that something was amiss. The start of the season was heavily delayed, and when an announcement was finally made, it was to confirm the cancellation of the series. The exact reason was never given by the series' management, though persistent rumours hinted at corruption, and the complete mis-management of the series' financial resources. Ultimately it left teams like Castrol Jones Racing out in the cold, and many drivers unemployed. As a token gesture from Sammy, Greenlaw was signed up to the F1RWRS team, at the time known as RubberTex-Jones Racing, to become official test driver for 2012. Castrol, seeking to remain as a partner to Jones' operation, then moved across to become title sponsors of the F1RWRS team in 2013, following its reformation part-way through the year.

The 2014 Season - Disappointment and Despair
Following the ignominious demise of the IRDU Rejects Cup, the series' assets were passed through a number of legal avenues, before ending up in the hands of a Finnish consortium who declared that the series would be revived, mid-way through 2014. A further re-branding took place, with the series' new name being the Rejects of LFS series. Sammy Jones was one of a number of team bosses interested in re-joining, along with other prominent owners such as Phoenix McAllister and the Zimsport-Rosenforth group. The expansion meant Jones Racing was now running cars in four different series, and consequently, additional finances had to be sought to fund the new program. The first driver to be signed to the team was promising youngster Josh Carlisle who Sammy had spotted running in German Formula Ford in 2013, and brought Nestle sponsorship with him. With the reformed series taking on the identity of a feeder category for the F1RWRS, Jones was keen to have fresh talent in the cars, and Carlisle was the ideal addition to the team. Soon after, Jones was able to convince a number of companies to sponsor the new team, including the American 3M corporation and Lucas, the automotive spares manufacturer. They joined existing sponsors Castrol, Beta Tools and Loctite which had increased their commitment alongside sponsorship of Jones' F1RWRS effort. Tristan Jung had returned following the clearing of his name over alleged charges of money laundering and fraud, and looking for a way back into motorsport, the American-Korean discussed the possibility of signing for Jones' RoLFS team. Bringing money with him, Jung was subsequently hired to partner Carlisle.

Initial results for the team weren't encouraging, and whilst Carlisle just missed out on points with 5th place in the Blackwood sprint race, Jung brought home the first points finish with 6th in the South City feature race. Bottom of the teams' standings after four races, Jones gave the two drivers an ultimatum: to either improve or face replacement. With no more points forthcoming in the next four races though, Jones finally lost his patience and fired Carlisle from the team. It worked favourably for Josh however who was immediately hired by Falik Arrows Juniors to replace Yuka Katayama in their F3RWRS team, the Japanese having been promoted to Falik's F2RWRS squad. In his place, Jones promoted the team's test driver, South African Danny van Rijkens who would be experiencing his first outings in an international single seater series. The nerves didn't show however as in only his second race, the Westhill Sprint, van Rijkens finished a brilliant third, giving the Castrol Jones Racing team it's first podium of the season. Jung capped off a strong performance by taking 5th in the same event.

From there, the season ended on a sour note, with neither driver scoring in the final two races and Jones Racing finished bottom of the teams' championship. Unhappy with the lack of success, Castrol declared it would reduce its commitment to the team for 2015, whilst fellow sponsor 3M amended its contract, ensuring its logos would appear on Jones' F1RWRS cars in 2015 instead. With the team's finances looking shaky, the future of the Jones Racing RoLFS team was uncertain.

Complete F2RWRS Results
For the 2014 season, refer to Scuderia Jones Italia.

Complete F1RLFS/IRDU Rejects Cup/RoLFS Results

 * * Season in progress
 * † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, 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.