Jordan Ford scored its first points of 2004 today in the Monaco Grand Prix thanks to a strong drive from Nick Heidfeld and the team’s clever use of strategy changes in reaction to safety car outings. While Heidfeld scored his best result at this circuit to date - moving Jordan Ford up to eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, teammate Giorgio Pantano was less fortunate as his car developed a transmission problem early in the race and he had to retire in the pits on lap 14.

 

NICK HEIDFELD (EJ14/03) 7th

"I can’t tell you how happy I am, scoring not just one but two points. This means a lot for me and also for the team at the moment. I think we employed the right strategy when the safety cars came out. I managed to keep the car on the circuit which was important today as was the fact that we had no mechanical problems."

 

GIORGIO PANTANO (EJ14/02) DNF (lap 14)

"I had a gear problem which was basically that the down-shift function was not working, it was locking in fourth gear. I came into the pits pretty quickly to see if we could fix the problem but it was impossible and I had to stop. Naturally, I’m disappointed that my first Monaco Grand Prix ended this way but thankfully there are not many days to wait until the next chance to race and I’m looking ahead to the European Grand Prix now."

 

JAMES ROBINSON

HEAD OF RACE AND TEST ENGINEERING

"It turned out to be the exciting and eventful race as we thought it might be seeing some of the strategies from yesterday. It’s difficult to know how it would have worked without the safety cars, as obviously we made very good use of those with two very quick calls to bring Nick in for both pit stops that proved effective in the race. It’s great to get our first two points on the board and to get Nick home. We are disappointed for Giorgio who was running well and would have had a good crack at the points today given the carnage out there."

EDDIE JORDAN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

"This has been an outstanding day. Firstly I’m overjoyed about Nick’s drive and his getting some points, which we so badly needed. I also want to congratulate Jarno Trulli on his first win. It would be hard to describe how he must be feeling now especially as his first victory has come in Monaco. Jarno has been a good friend to everyone at Jordan and we wish him every success."