Grapevine: Jordan, Dernie help young F3 driver

Former team boss Eddie Jordan and veteran engineer Frank Dernie have made a surprise return to motor racing to help out a young British racer who has beaten cancer

Alex Waters, who is competing for Promatecme in the national class of the British Formula Three Championship, has helped secure the backing of the leading F1 figures in his bid to move up the racing ladder.

Jordan is helping on the commercial side of matters, while Dernie has agreed to help out Waters on the engineering front at this weekend's British F3 season opener at Oulton Park.

The link with Jordan has come about because Waters is helping raise money for cancer charity CLIC Sargent, with whom the former F1 team boss has very close links.

"Alex is a super lad and a very promising driver," Jordan told autosport.com. "And, because I'm a patron of CLIC Sargent, which is a brilliant charity, I'm only too pleased to be helping him in his racing career.

"Hopefully, he'll do very well - and, at the same time, we'll raise a hell of a lot of money for CLIC Sargent at the same time. After all, what could be more important than helping kids with cancer? Nothing. So good luck to Alex."

Dernie, who left Williams earlier this year, said: "Alex is intelligent, diligent, able - and desperate to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible.

"So I'm glad to be able to help him - and I'm enjoying myself at Oulton. It's interesting and gratifying to confirm for myself what I already knew: namely, that all racing cars behave much the same, and respond to engineering input in much the same way, whether they're F3 cars, F1 cars, Le Mans cars or IndyCars."

Waters has vowed to donate half of all the sponsorship money he raises to CLIC Sargent.

"I'm proud and delighted to be driving for CLIC Sargent, which is a fantastic charity that has done and is doing an enormous amount to help children and young people with cancer," said Waters.

"But I'm one of the lucky ones. I've beaten cancer - well, that's what my doctors say, anyway. But it isn't easy - more than anything else, it was very difficult mentally. That's why, now, I'm every bit as focused on trying to raise money for CLIC Sargent as I am on having a successful racing career - and reaching Formula One.

"With that in mind, for every sponsorship pound I raise and spend on my racing career, I'll give 50p to CLIC Sargent, so that other young men and women, boys and girls, can live their dreams - as, now, I'm living mine."