A characteristically excitement-filled and action-packed Belgian Grand Prix was eventful for Jordan Ford but unfortunately not for the right reasons. Giorgio Pantano made a good start which moved him up the field by several places but he could not avoid Bruni’s Minardi as it careered sideways across the track after an incident at the infamous Eau Rouge and the resulting accident brought Pantano’s race to a very premature end.

Persistent rain spells shaped the day’s events at Spa-Francorchamps as teams experienced extremely limited track time this morning: unsuitable weather  conditions caused the first session to be abandoned and the second to be delayed and curtailed from 45 to 15 minutes.  In the brief practice period, Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano were able to set lap times not far from the pacesetters’, however during qualifying the drivers reported a significant decrease in grip and felt that they had not got the most from the car.  Heidfeld qualified 16th for tomorrow’s starting grid while Pantano finished 19th. 

Timo Glock describes his first experience of F1 at Spa: “It was not so easy for me to learn this circuit because although I drove here two years ago in touring cars, in Formula One there’s a big difference so it took the first 10 laps or so before I was completely okay with it.  The lack of grip on the track made it a little bit difficult as it was quite cold and we had a few problems getting the tyres and set-up just right."
 

"We changed a lot of things before the second practice which made the car much better.  My timed laps at the end of the day were affected by traffic but overall I’m happy because I did my work, made no mistakes, and hopefully have been good for the team in the task of finding the right tyre.  The track at Spa is really good - I enjoy driving here!  Much more than I thought I would in fact, I have to confess before I came here this weekend I expected it would be like other tracks, but when you actually drive a Formula One car here it’s totally different.  What good fun, especially the fast corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont!”

Jordan has scored more points at Spa than at any other F1 circuit and some of the team’s most memorable results were achieved here.  In 1998 Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher accomplished their celebrated 1-2 maiden victory; Giancarlo Fisichella was on the podium with second in 1997; and the team achieved its first pole position with Rubens Barrichello in 1994.  Jordan has had a points finish in five out of the last six Belgian Grands Prix and after scoring double points in Canada, the only similar ‘medium downforce set-up’ track this year, Jordan is hopeful that the return to Spa-Francorchamps in 2004 will be rewarding.

Child Focus is a Belgian-based charity providing active support in the investigation of the disappearance, abduction or exploitation of children and works to prevent and combat these incidents. Initiated in 1998 by Jean-Denis Lejeune following an extremely high profile multiple child murder case which included Lejeune’s daughter Julie among the victims, Child Focus has achieved remarkable results dealing with nearly 3000 cases involving more than 3300 children, 85% of which were closed within a year. With the charity recognised as a public service and the Queen of Belgium as Honorary President, worldwide exposure through Jordan’s campaign with Bahrain is intended to raise awareness for Child Focus and its work with international missing children organisations.