Set high in the Eifel Mountains, rain is usually a frequent occurrence at Nurburgring, making the racing here generally quite exciting. It can be a fight for survival as cars squeeze through the first two tight corners. The current circuit is built over the pit lane area of the former Nordschleife track - the fourteen mile circuit that ceased to be used after Niki Lauda's crash in 1976, after which time the German Grand Prix moved to Hockenheim for seven years. Revisions to the Nurburgring made the track safer and it reopened as a Grand Prix circuit in 1984. Now boasting modern facilities, the track provides a mixture of corners with some long straights, large gravel traps for improved safety and two good opportunities for overtaking.

A mixed start to the weekend for Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda as Jarno Trulli set fifth fastest time on the opening day and Heinz-Harald Frentzen did very little running in the second of the two 60-minute sessions and dropped to 13th on the time sheet.

"A routine first day," said Jarno. "We were working on the set-up for the race, trying to balance the car as much as possible. We still have quite a lot of work to do for tomorrow. This morning, the car was not far away from the right set-up. We still need to improve it but we haven't really found a new direction to follow. We'll sit down now, check the data and see what we can find that might help for tomorrow."

An uneventful morning for Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda as both drivers managed many laps, Jarno Trulli setting seventh fastest time, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen recovering from yesterday's set-back to be eighth quickest.

"I was working on the race set-up in the first session," said Trulli. "The changes made this morning didn't really help and we went back to the set-up we ran yesterday. In the second (of two 45-minute sessions), I concentrated on qualifying. The car doesn't feel too bad even if we still need to improve a little bit more to catch the top teams. We're not far off. My feeling is that we can probably fight for seventh or eight place."

The Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda drivers felt they had done the best they could, Jarno Trulli and Heinz-Harald Frentzen finishing seventh and eighth, the "best of the rest" behind the top three teams at the end of a typically competitive hour-long qualifying session.

"After this morning's practice," said Trulli, "I predicted we would be seventh and eighth behind the three top teams, so I am happy that my qualifying position is not worse than I had hoped. It was a difficult qualifying, though, with a lot of cars out at the same time putting dust on the track, so I had to abort my last two runs because of traffic. And on the last run there was also a yellow flag. I could have improved my lap time and been higher up the grid as there was more potential in the car, but I did the best I could given the situation on the track today. The car feels good, but I think it will be a tough race."

There was further disappointment for Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda in Germany when neither driver finished, Jarno Trulli losing a place in the points with clutch trouble and Heinz-Harald Frentzen spinning out of eighth position with a suspected problem with his traction control.

Trulli made a good start from seventh on the grid at the Nurburgring, moving into sixth place and holding that position until his one and only pit stop on lap 30. When the race settled down again, Trulli was back in sixth place and on course for a championship point when he stopped during the 45th lap.