Jordan Pepper

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Jordan sets the track alight and seals second in the Regional Kart Champs!
Press Release:  7 November 2008

The final regional Kart championships took place at the Bridgestone Adrenalin Raceway in Vereeniging on the 1 November 2008. Jordan Pepper was ready to put his international experience into good use and show his rivals on the tar Mac that he had what it took to take the title for 2008.

The organizers ran the track in reverse and Pepper put his Kart on pole by 0.2sec. He led Heat 1 but made some uncharacteristic mistakes to eventually finish 3rd. In Race 2 he battled with handling and eventually found the problem to be the fact that Big Pappa Pepper, Iain, had forgotten to tighten the rear hubs, He would finish 2nd again.

After a stern talking to by young Pepper, the old man rectified his errors for Heat 3, the Final, and along with some help from Steve Hodges, fellow Pepper Racing stable mate Mathew’s dad, Jordan managed to end in second place after dropping back to 6th at the start. Pepper was able to set a new lap record as a result of his efforts in the Final.

He finished the Northern Regions Kart championship in 2nd place. He will be at the Northern Regions Kart Championship prize giving on 22 November 2008 to accept his Number 2 plate for 2009.
 

Pepper adds a little flavour in Italy!
Press Release:  20 October 2008

Jordan Pepper wanted to impress the hidden talent hunters at the Rok World Finals in Italy this week end and did so from the outset, setting the track alight with his consistently quick lap times. He was amongst the world’s best and the Mini Rok class was made up of 46 karters who were split by half a second all the way down to fellow South African karters in 18th place.

In free practice he needed to find a mere point six of a second to ensure pole and point one to move him from 8th to 4th. These times were showing the partisan crowd from all around the world just how talented these young karters were and how intense the racing was going to be in the heats.

Problems in the qualifying saw Pepper drop out of the top eight for the first time in the week ends activities and ended up 18th on the grid. However the determined young racer never gave up and fought well to come through a field of very racy drivers and end in 8th, but quickest South African in the class and securing a place in the final.

Not used to the standing start for karting, Pepper lost about 5 positions on the start and fell back slightly and had to find the strength to get through the field again, but having done it on numerous occasions here in the SA Champs, the future star of the Pepper Racing Stable drove like an absolute star according to father Iain Pepper, who was on hand to assist with his son’s efforts, and Pepper Jnr ended up in 10th place after dropping down to 20th at one point. He finished top South African in the Mini Rok class.

Don’t forget to catch Jordan Pepper in action from Italy and the Rok World Finals on Rapid Motion Africa on Supersport 2 next week Wednesday.

Pepper then went on to win the first heat and ended 3rd overall in the race which the organizers changed slightly as they combined Junior Rok & Super Rok due to a small amount of entries for the day.

Race 2 was not as easy for young Pepper, who was taken out at the start by a Super Rok, but this did not stop Pepper from having one of the drives of his season and he settled back into his rhythm and eventually came from last to get to the lead with a lap to go. This would not be the end of the action and Pepper was once again pushed wide in the final turn by team mate Sean Frost. He would then end up 4th in heat two.

In the final Pepper decided that a small gear change might give him an edge and allow him to get some more pace on top end. This worked extremely well and Pepper walked away winning by 8seconds.

“If I had the gears, I could have won all three heats and Sean (Frost) would not even have seen me all day, said a very content Pepper at his first overall for the day.

Jordan Pepper won the day overall and now moves into 2nd place in the Regional championships.
 

Jordan Pepper puts Pepper Racing into International waters again

At the final Engen Supa Kart Championship round Jordan Pepper showed true grit and determination by securing a seat in the Rok World Finals for Team South Africa.

Pepper needed to out drive two very talented youngsters Aston Hare and Nicholas Surguladse on the day to do this. Championship leader Justin Allan, who had nightmare round ended up way down the field and this gave Sean Frost a chance to dominate the race wins side of things and Sam Tingle a chance to close and eventually overtake young Allan at the end of the days racing to secure the 2008 championship title. Pepper who had his best outing of the season at the Bridgestone Adrenalin Kart Circuit, out drove his two closest rivals for the vacant second seat on the SA team and even a shunt off in the one heat did not deter this youngster from claiming his spot on the SA Team.

Jordan Pepper will now join the SA team in Lenato Italy for this year’s Rok World Finals and participate as the second driver for the Mini Rok class at this prestigious event that has been dominated by South African karters since its inception.

Pepper Racing has had five of its current stable of drivers represented in some form of international events this season and is starting to become a major force in South African motorsport. The youngest is very keen to show he has got what it takes.

Don’t miss the final round of the Engen Supa Karts on Rapid Motion Africa on Wednesday 17 September 2008 at approx. 20h30 on Supersport 2. Both Jordan and his sister Tasmin will be in action on the show.

Jordan Pepper - Achievements
 

2008 Jordan will be competing in the National Junior Rok class with the aim of representing SA at the world finals in the Mini Rok class as he is still only 11 years old.   2007 Jordan competed in the National Mini Max getting 6 pole positions, but never being able to convert them into a win even though he led most of the races to eventually finish 4th in the SA Championships & 5th in the Regional Championships.    2006 Jordan was not his best even though he had a number of wins & consistently ran in the top 5, but was getting very despondent with tuning problems. He was given dispensation to move to Mini Max where he once again came to light and enjoyed his racing again.   2005 Still in Junior GP finishing 5th in National Championship after winning the final round at Vereeneging.   2004 Jordan saw his first full season in Junior GP class. He finished 11th in the national champs.   2003 Jordan competed in the Cadette restricted 60cc class for experts, but due to politics of experts & novices only did 6 events winning the Expert class. He got dispensation to move up to Junior GP class for the remainder of the season finishing 3rd at Swartkops behind Trent Williams & Caleb Williams.    2002 Once again Jordan finished 4th in the national challenge, if my memory serves me correct.   2001 Jordan started racing in 2001 at the age of 4 in Baby Karts. In his 1st season he finished 4th in the SA National invitational championship & 2nd in the regional champs.

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