SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX
FREE PRACTICE
Friday 22 April 2005
For the first European round of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship season, Jordan Grand Prix have spent a normal Friday technical programme with particular emphasis on chassis balance, car set-up and tyre evaluation. Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro completed quite a significant number of laps without encountering any major technical hitches while Robert Doornbos lost part of the second session after he spun and damaged his front wing. The team will now examine the data gathered during both sessions in order to make further improvements on the car, focusing especially on optimising chassis performance over the kerbs, which are a major characteristic of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
FREE PRACTICE 1
Narain Karthikeyan (EJ15/02) 16th 1:24.512 18 laps
Tiago Monteiro (EJ15/03) 17th 1:25.257 16 laps
Robert Doornbos (EJ15/01) 18th 1:25.555 26 laps
FREE PRACTICE 2
Narain Karthikeyan (EJ15/02) 17th 1:23.842 16 laps
Tiago Monteiro (EJ15/03) 20th 1:24.573 21 laps
Robert Doornbos (EJ15/01) 22nd 1:25.172 15 laps
TEAM QUOTES ON THE SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX FRIDAY FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS
TIAGO MONTEIRO
“It was a very interesting session. We have tried different tyres and now we know which ones we are going to use for the rest of the weekend. In the second session, we decided to conserve engine mileage; but from what we have tried, we have found some right things, so this was a good start for us.”
NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN
“The car seems to be working pretty well and I am quite happy with the performance in the first two free practice sessions. Today was also the first time I have driven on this track so I spent a bit of time learning the layout. After I sleep over it tonight, I am sure I will learn a few more tricks on the circuit tomorrow.”
ROBERT DOORNBOS
“We have done a lot of work today, together with Bridgestone to find the right tyre for the weekend. The first session went very well; we tried some parts that we tested last week in Paul Ricard. Everything was looking really good until halfway through the afternoon session when I spun in the famous corner “Acqua Minerale”. However, I managed to bring the car back to the garage, as I did not want to give up. The team has made a good job to try to get me out on the track again but for safety reasons, we have decided not to use the engine anymore as it overheated a bit. I am really sorry for that and I hope we will have a good weekend.”
TREVOR CARLIN
SPORTING DIRECTOR
“We are reasonably satisfied with today’s performance. Narain has done a very good job with his best lap at 1.23.842, which put us 1.8 seconds behind the Ferraris, which is quite encouraging. Robert went through a suspension programme, which unfortunately ended when he had a little spin and Tiago carried on with tyre evaluation.”