Jensen looking forward to RWD switch

It has been announced that Kasper Jensen, Aalborg, will become the next driver who makes the transition from a FWD to a RWD car in the Danish Touringcar Championship – a switch that many before him have found difficult.

“I am looking forward to the challenge, but I now that it will be a big one,” he says on changing from Autoforum Racing Team Silkeborg’s Peugeot 407 to a BMW 320si E90 run by JM Racing. “What I am eyeing as the biggest challenge is to go from front wheel drive to rear wheel drive. I am sure that I will quickly gel with the team, as we share similar ideas and values.”

Since 2001 Kasper Jensen has been racing saloon cars in the Yokohama Cup, the Fleggaard Renault Clio Cup and the Danish Touringcar Championship. All cars have been FWD cars like Renault Megane, Alfa Romeo 156, Peugeot 206 and Renault Clio II. But he isn’t completely unfamiliar with RWD cars.

“I did a single four hour race in 2006 in the Fleggaard team’s BMW M3 at Padborg Park,” the new JM Racing driver explains. “It will not be the same as a DTC car, but at least it was rear wheel driven. I think we finished second in the biggest class then, and I actually liked to drive the car, the way it drives and therefore I am looking forward to trying out my new BMW.”

But in the virtual world Kasper Jensen has solid experience of racing the BMW 320si E90 type, as he is using such an example in the so-called Danish Racing League, where a number of racing drivers and enthusiasts race each other in the Race 07 computer game. Generally, computer games these days are described as been very close to real racing, but will he be able to make use of this experience on the tarmac?

“I don’t know,” Kasper Jensen confesses. “I sure hope, let me put it that way. If you compare a front wheel drive car with a rear wheel drive car in real life, you are experiencing the same symptoms in the game, but whether that can be transferred to the game, I do not know. Perhaps it will be possible to use the lines.”

Explaining the change from Autoforum Racing Team Silkeborg to JM Racing Kasper Jensen says: “During the winter period I was contacted by several teams, and among them JM Racing has been the most interesting. I felt well at ARTS, but I wanted to try something else. JM Racing has good team that is working well. They have finished a lot of races, and they have the right results, which really was interesting for me.”

Team manager Jens Ole Mathiesen is expecting his new mount to finish the season in eighth position overall and fight for the DTC Cup. The driver himself, however, isn’t that pushy when it comes to evaluating his changes and possibilities.

“Now I will be getting some equipment that will make it possible for me to win races, but I am also fully aware that I won’t just be winning races. The overall package is vital, so I have a humble approach, but I am looking forward to trying it,” he says.