They experienced at first hand that they are far from forgotten, as a plethora of TV cameras and photographers awaited them outside the Jordan garage. Deep Purple, with its original line-up of Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Steve Morse are currently enjoying a revival of their distinctive brand of rock music, thanks mainly to Kula Shaker's recent cover version of one of their 70's hits "Hush" and, of course their army of fans who have supported them over the years.

The band, currently on tour in Australia, will be travelling on to Malaysia, where they will perform a live show in Kuala Lumpur after Sunday's Grand Prix. The band members expressed their gratitude by issuing an invitation to all members of the Jordan team to see their show in Malaysia. No doubt they will hold a drum solo open for our own home grown talent EJ…

A special surprise was in store for Ian Paice, when after 25 years he met up with Jordan's Head of Engineering, Tim Holloway. Both spent a lot of time together during the 60's when they were growing up together in Bicester.

Reminiscing, Tim told how Ian always had a penchant for playing drums, collecting empty tins and anything else he could find and launching himself into some imaginary "drum solo". Their ways parted when Ian followed his vocation as a musician and Tim into engineering. Despite their careers worlds apart, Tim admitted to having acquired all of their albums, not just because he knew the drummer, but he genuinely liked their music and has remained a fan of theirs to this day.

Ian Paice commented, 'Having always been very interested in F1 it's great to be guests of Jordan. Then meeting Tim Holloway here, who was at the same school as I was although a few years junior, reinforces that it is a very small world. Also to find out that Eddie is a very good and keen drummer is kind of nice. We're having a great time and thank Jordan for inviting us.'

Jordan Grand Prix