Franklyn De Karl Jones (born 4 April 1957 in Llantwit Major,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) is a British former

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver. He is best known for competing in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

(BTCC)

Career

Jones started racing in 1981, finishing third in his debut season in the Junior Formula Ford 1600 Championship. The following year he finished as runner-up, then champion in 1983 of Brands Hatch FF1600. In 1985 he competed in the

BRSCC The British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC) is one of the major organisers of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The club currently runs around forty track racing championships for cars as diverse as Caterham, BMWs and Mazda. Formed in B ...

Production Saloon Championship, finishing as runner-up. He went on to be champion of the series in 1986, driving a

Fiat Strada The Fiat Strada is a supermini coupé utility produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat since 1998. It is based on Fiat's world car "project 178", the Palio. It is produced by Fiat Automóveis in Brazil, and has been marketed worldwide, exclud ...

. He spent one more season in the championship, this time competing in a Ford Escort RS Turbo. He stepped up to the BTCC in 1988, competing for two seasons in his Duckhams backed Class A

Ford Sierra RS500 The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...

. During his time here, he managed two second place finishes. He did not return in 1990 due to budget reasons. He did compete in the

Willhire 24 Hour The Willhire 24 Hour was an endurance race for production cars held at Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit in Norfolk, England between 1980 and 1994. Over the years, the race included both sports cars and saloon cars. Latterly, it was contested by ...

race that yearIn 1991 he competed in selected events of both the

Renault Clio Cup The Renault Clio Cup Series is a one-make racing series created and managed by Alpine Racing (until 2020 known as Renault Sport). The championship was born after merge the 4 active Renault Clio national cups at that moment plus the Clio Cup E ...

and Ford Fiesta Championship. Jones made a return to the BTCC in 1992, with a BMW M3 for the independent Techspeed Racing team. A troubled season ended after round ten at

Knockhill Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA appro ...

with no championship points. Official 1992 BTCC standings. In 1993 Jones switched from touring cars to compete in the RS2000 rallysport series with a car owned by Blakes Ford of Liverpool. In 1994 he competed in the Ford Fiesta Championship entered again by Blakes and sponsored by Duckhams.

Racing record

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1988–1990 in class) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class) ‡ Endurance driver.

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Karl Welsh racing drivers 1957 births British Touring Car Championship drivers Living people Sportspeople from Carmarthenshire