Harri Jones granted a place in International Motorsport

Buderim local, Harri Jones has returned from the Middle East following the third round of the MRF Challenge, a motorsport series run over four events by the MRF tyre company in India featuring 18 of the best young drivers in the world. MRF provide drivers with their car, a mechanic and an engineer and the opportunity to hone their racecraft at some of the most prestigious tracks in the world.

Harri, who has been campaigning in the Australian Formula Ford series throughout 2017 and was the Goulburn Cup winner in his first outing in an Australian Formula 3 event in October, has been supported in his MRF Challenge endeavour by the Sunshine Coast Council’s Individual Development grant and the Australian Sports Commission’s Local Sporting Champion grant. “I’m extremely grateful to these organisations not just for the financial support but also for their recognition of my motorsport endeavours” said Jones.

Round one of the MRF Challenge was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in November where Harri qualified poorly due to engine problems. “We made extensive changes to the car but we were still losing time on the straights. The team had 2 hours to change the engines over and get me back out there. They did an awesome job.” he said. The extra pace allowed him to gain in confidence and move up the grid. He finished in the top 10 in the final two races of the weekend before flying home to regroup for Round 2.

In December he travelled back to the United Arab Emirates for round 2 at Dubai Autodrome. Qualifying 7th he held it to race 1 end, then a bad start followed in race 2 from which he recovered to finish 6th. He set the fourth fastest lap time in the race and was the quickest driver on old tyres. Whilst running third in race 3, a stuck throttle dropped Jones out of contention, however he finished eighth to set up a run to the podium for the final race of the weekend. Battling between 2nd and 5th for most of the last race, he finished fourth but bagged some good points for the standings.

The following week saw the MRF Challenge head to Abu Dhabi to drive the world renown Formula 1 Yas Marina Circuit. Race 1 was an evening race under lights where Harri was unfortunately shunted off the track rejoining at the back of the field and fighting back to finish 13th. The following races saw an 8th, 6th and 10th to finalise Harri’s standings in 9th position in the series with one round to go in Chennai, India in February 2018.

“The experience of racing against some great young drivers from all over the world, including famous names, Maldonado and Gachot, an example of the pedigree, has been amazing. I’ve loved representing the Sunshine Coast and Australia and I can definitely say that this type of racing has improved my racecraft immensely. I’m looking forward to racing in India at the track previous known as Madras Circuit”

Unfortunately, the Chennai round conflicts with the Bathurst 12 Hour event at which Jones won the C class division early this year in the ProSport Performance Porsche Cayman. He will continue his Australian Formula Ford and Australian Formula 3 campaigns during 2018 whilst commencing a dual Engineering and Maths degree at the University of Queensland.

Harri driving under lights at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. Pic: MRF Challenge