Jordan Love’s preparation in top gear ahead of Porsche Junior Shootout in November
Jordan Love will head to the final round of the Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia Championship on the Gold Coast this weekend with a slender two point advantage over Sonic Racing teammate Dale Wood.
While sealing the 2019 Championship will be Love’s primary focus this weekend, the young Porsche driver has also been preparing himself for arguably the biggest opportunity of his racing career, the Porsche Junior Shootout in Europe in late November.
Despite an unfortunate mid-season accident, Love’s comeback in the second half of the season has been dominant, claiming the most race and round wins so far this season. Should Love lift the outright trophy on Sunday night, the next step up the Porsche Motorsport pyramid will be to attend the Junior Shootout in late November.
This year, the shootout takes place at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal with each Porsche Carrera Cup Championship around the world permitted to nominate one candidate for the shootout
A major part of Love’s preparation was to attend the Michelin Junior Training days in Melbourne recently, along with the leading junior drivers in both Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup and Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge. The Juniors underwent an intensive two-day training program receiving coaching on sports psychology, social media, branding, media training and nutrition from Australia’s leading experts on the first day.
The second day the Michelin Junior drivers also underwent physical assessments tests and analysis, while learning about aspects such as their body fat percentage, resting metabolic rate, body mass index and reaction rates to name but a few.
Jordan’s motorsport story began at the age of nine in go karting, finishing second in the West Australia State Championship in only his first year of competition. A very successful karting career followed winning numerous championships before making the shift from karts to formula car racing.
In his first year in international competition, Jordan won 14 out of the 15 Asia Cup races to become 2015 Champion in Formula BMW. At the final round of the series – at the age of 15 – he was given the opportunity to test a GP2 car as part of his prize for winning the championship.
A season in Formula 4 followed in 2016 finishing third in the Australian championship with 5 wins, 11 podiums and 4 fastest laps. Love’s first laps behind the wheel of Porsche Cup Car came when he contended the Bathurst 12-Hour in 2017, finishing third in class.
Love’s natural progression to Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge in 2017 saw him winning both the outright Championship as well as the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy in only his first year.
Love was also only the second recipient of the Porsche Junior Scholarship and during 2017 amassed the third most race victories in Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge history.
In 2018, Love progressed to Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia joining the successful Sonic Motor Racing team, finishing fourth in his first season, with 2 race wins, 1 round win and 1 lap record. Love clinched the Porsche Junior Competition after round 6 of the 2019 championship as well as the inaugural Michelin Super Round earlier this season, after a strong performance at the Australian Grand Prix.
Jordan has been part of the Porsche Junior program in Australia ever since switching to sports cars in 2017. His impressive rise through the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid in Australia means his nomination for the 2019 Porsche Junior shootout is well deserved as he plans to continue his ascent in 2020.
Quotes:
JORDAN LOVE
‘I’ve been training hard on and off the track in the last few months with my team, Porsche and my trainer Josh. While sealing the championship this weekend is my main goal, I feel honoured to be the Australian nominee for this year’s shootout and it was my major goal since starting in GT3 Cup Challenge 2 years ago.’
‘The Michelin Junior program is fantastic and as we’ve seen with Matt (Campbell) and Jaxon (Evans) genuinely provides young drivers with the opportunity to take their careers to Europe.’
‘My ultimate goal is to use the Porsche pyramid to become a Porsche factory driver and it will be interesting to see how I fare against the best Carrera Cup drivers from around the world.’
‘I’m incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity and I’m sure I will gain a lot of experience no matter what the outcome maybe.’