Franklyn De Karl Jones (born 4 April 1957 in

Llantwit Major Llantwit Major () is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

) 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. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

driver. He is best known for competing in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

(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 thirty circuit racing championships for cars as diverse as Citroën, BMWs and Mazda. Formed i ...

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 subcompact pickup truck (B-segment) produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat since 1998.. It is mainly produced in Brazil and marketed throughout Latin America, whereas the first-generation Strada was also assembled in South ...

. He spent one more season in the championship, this time competing in a

Ford Escort RS Turbo The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms: the original, rear-wheel-drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), the "Erika" f ...

. 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 racing (motorsport), 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 sedan (car) ...

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

Renault Clio Cup The Renault Clio Cup Series is a One-Design, one-make racing series created and managed by Automobiles Alpine, Alpine Racing (until 2020 known as Renault Sport). The championship was born after merging the 4 active Renault Clio national cups a ...

and Ford Fiesta Championship. Jones made a return to the BTCC in 1992, with a

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

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 in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA-approved circui ...

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