This weekend Jean Alesi will have notched up no less than 200 Grand Prix races, an impressive number of GP race starts which has been bettered by only four drivers - Patrese (256), Berger (210), De Cesaris (208) and Piquet (204).

"The last twelve years have gone so quickly, but I feel an incredible sense of achievement to have made it to my 200th Grand Prix," commented Alesi.

Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda made a moderate start to the weekend when Jean Alesi and Jarno Trulli were 12th and 14th fastest at the end of the first day of practice for the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

Both drivers worked on the set-up of their cars, Alesi being held up by an electronics problem.

"A very difficult morning," said Trevor Foster, joint managing director. "We have been struggling to get a balance on the cars and it's obviously going to be very hard to get both drivers into the Top 10 during qualifying this afternoon. We are too slow on the straights and, as a result, there is not enough downforce as we try to find grip in the corners. We have sorted the tyre choice ­ that has been pretty straightforward ­ so it is a matter of trying to find the right compromise on the car."

After a troubled morning practice, solid work by the Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda engineers and drivers made improvements which helped Jarno Trulli and Jean Alesi take impressive eight and ninth places on the grid for tomorrow's United States Grand Prix. The Jordan drivers were separated by just two thousandths of a second.

"Our qualifying positions are better than we had expected so I feel this is a good achievement today," said Trulli. "It was a very tough session and I wasn't able to improve on my best lap time as I had to abort my last run due to traffic. From the data, it's clear that I need to find more speed to be competitive tomorrow, but I am looking forward to race as I think I have a good chance of scoring points from this grid position."

Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda had a routine warm-up this morning as final checks and preparations were made for today's penultimate round of the championship. Jarno Trulli and Jean Alesi were 12th and 16th fastest, neither driver having any major problems.
 
"No dramas: a normal warm-up" said Trevor Foster, joint managing director. "We have settled on the set-up for the cars, so it was the final run-down for the race."

Jordan Grand Prix will be appealing against the decision of the Stewards of the Meeting to exclude car number 11 (Jarno Trulli) from the Official Race Classification of the United States Grand Prix.

No further comment will be made at this time.