The Cool Down Lap: Jordan Pepper

The recent final round of this year’s Extreme Festival series at the Red Star Raceway near Delmas was unique in various aspects. Six separate South African championships were concluded and the circuit’s quickest ever motorcycle lap time was set.

Not noticed by many was another fact – in the pits, an international Bentley Continental GT3 factory driver spent much of his day working on a friend’s Falken Polo Cup car. Asked about it, Jordan Pepper could not see why we thought his actions unusual.

“Before I went overseas, I almost never missed a national championship race meeting I am in South Africa now for the 9-Hour race at Kyalami and the Christmas break, so going to the Red Star event was just natural,” Pepper says.

“Once there, I could not just sit around doing nothing, so I jumped in and helped to get Keagan Campos’ car ready. He is a racer and a friend. When I raced Polo Cup cars, other people often jumped in to help, and that is an aspect of non-professional motorsport that should never change. So, when there was a need, I got my hands dirty,” he said.

The 23-year old Pepper was, from birth, always going to be a race car driver. Born on July 31, 1996 in Edenvale, he is the son of former multiple South African champion driver Iain Pepper.

That apart, his older sister is Tasmin Pepper, who last year topped an illustrious South African racing career by finishing in the top 10 places of the inaugural W Series for female drivers, run in conjunction with the ADAC German Touring Car championship. Tasmin will be back in the series next year, this time without having to learn each circuit and experts predict podium places. Back to Jordan.

Like most successful racers, the youngster served a mandatory stint in karting, with the highlight a fifth place in the Junior Rok World Finals in 2010. He switched to the Volkswagen Polo Cup championship at the age of 15 and immediately won that season’s Rookie title.

The overseas Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup beckoned, with Pepper finishing third and first in the Junior class in 2013. He went one better in 2014, winning the series overall via six victories, seven pole positions and nine podium places. That year Pepper also earned a spot on the FIA Young Driver Excellence Programme – run by former Grand Prix driver Alex Wurz – one of 10 youngsters to do so and the only driver from Africa to make the grade.

In 2015, Jordan crossed the great divide to make his ADAC GT Masters debut in Christian Abt’s Audi R8 LMS GT3. After finishing 12th in the championship, the team switched to Bentley Continental GT3 models in 2016 and 2017.

Finally, at the age of 22, Pepper became a fully-fledged member of the Bentley Team M-Sport equipe, finishing 14th in last year’s Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. This year he scored the team’s only pole position, and he will be one of the equipe’s leading drivers in the coming 9-Hour race at Kyalami.

“I am really looking forward to the race. To race in front of local supporters will be really special and so is the opportunity to be part of such a historical South African motorsport event. Though I stay in Germany most of the year, sharing an apartment with Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde, I am a South African through and through and I really appreciate the support of supporters from my real home,” he says.

Pepper reckons the Bentley Continental GT3 should be competitive around Kyalami. “We do well on circuits with high grip, which I found Kyalami to have during a recent test session at the circuit.

“The trick will be to stay out of trouble, since passing may not be all that easy and nine hours is a really long time. We also believe there is a good chance of rain during the race – a 9-Hour tradition, I am told – and that could change things around very suddenly,” he added.

Pepper is hoping to stay with the Bentley Team M-Sport equipe next year. “They showed faith in signing me and I believe in staying loyal to teams who believe I can do the job. Loyalty is noted by racing manufacturers and I want to have long career is international sports car racing”.

He also hopes to race more often next year. “I currently race nine times per season, which makes it difficult to stay in the groove. That will hopefully change next season – like anything else, the more you drive race cars, the better you do it, and I want to be one of the best.”

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