BARCELONA, SPAIN
Wednesday 9 January 2002

Takuma Sato (EJ11 / 02) and Giancarlo Fisichella (EJ11 / 05)

Jordan’s new recruit and 2001 British F3 Champion, Takuma Sato, today commenced his first day of testing for Jordan Honda at Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Following an early morning familiarisation lap of the circuit in a road car, Sato, alongside team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, drove the team’s 2001 car, the EJ11, pending the launch of Jordan’s 2002 challenger, the EJ12 (launch date to be confirmed).

In damp circuit conditions, Sato completed 18 trouble-free laps in the first one and a half hours of the track being open, working on car and track familiarisation and driver comfort fine-tuning. This afternoon, Sato’s testing programme includes traction control and control systems familiarisation.

Takuma Sato
“It’s great to be back testing in a Formula One car and also spend time getting to know the team at Jordan and Honda. They are all very professional and I’m looking forward to becoming more involved in the team atmosphere. I’ve had quite a productive morning so far and have just got out the car for a few minutes while we change some elements of the set-up. Track conditions are quite poor at the moment as the whole circuit is damp, but I think it will dry out for this afternoon and enable me to become more familiar with the car and its systems. These next few weeks of testing are very important to me and I’m excited to be at Jordan and working alongside Giancarlo, and very much looking forward to my debut Grand Prix in Australia.”

Full testing report to follow.