After the excitement of competing in his first ever British Grand Prix at Silverstone last weekend Jordan driver Ralph Firman was chasing more thrills today with a daredevil roller coaster stunt at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

At his first visit to the park Ralph took a Jordan Formula 1 car onto the tracks of Europe’s tallest and fastest roller coaster – the Big One before opening the official Jordan Grand Prix ride.

The EJ-12 body was bolted onto the metal plate of a stripped down carriage on the roller coaster and despite extensive testing by the dedicated engineering team, Ralph was the one and only person ever to ride in the finished construction.

Ralph commented: “It was a really strange sensation being in the car and not being in control. When I came up the first hill and started into the big drop the car went almost vertical which was quite a feeling! Obviously nothing comes close to driving a Formula 1 car around a racetrack but I have to say the minute I spent on the roller coaster was pretty exhilarating.”

After his exciting encounter with the roller coaster the Jordan rookie moved on to unveil the Jordan Grand Prix ride sponsored by energy drink EJ-10 and it’s vodka based partner, party drink V-10. The ride, which is not quite as scary as the Big One allows motor fans young and old to climb into a Jordan liveried car and do a lap of the track. Ralph celebrated the completion of his first lap in true Formula 1 driver style by jumping onto the podium and spaying the crowd with Champagne.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach – www.bpbltd.com