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12-may-2001
Friday Practice - Austrian Grand Prix 2001 Season
A mixed first day for Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda as Heinz-Harald Frentzen set seventh fastest time, with Jarno Trulli 13th. Frentzen lost valuable track time due to a hydraulics problems and Trulli ran wide on a couple of occasions.

'There was a problem with the hydraulics and we had to change a couple of bits and pieces on the car,' said Frentzen. 'It took more time than expected because we wanted to make sure that would be the end of the problem. But that meant a loss of time which should have been used for basic set-up work on the car. There is still work to be done but, so far, it has been okay. There is still potential in the car, for sure, and we will have to squeeze it out tomorrow.'

The 2.7-mile A1-Ring was dirty and slippery, particularly during the first of the two 60-minute sessions, several drivers either spinning off or running wide.

'It was difficult today,' said Trulli. 'Apart from the dirty track, the car wasn't very well balanced. I was running a heavy fuel load for most of the day and went off twice. One of the trips across the gravel damaged the bargeboards behind the front wheels and they had to be changed, which cost me a bit of time. Otherwise, I had no problems.'

The lap times improved during the second session and Frentzen was at least fortunate to be running for most of the second hour.

'The hydraulic problem seriously affected Heinz's morning session,' said Tim Holloway, Head of Engineering at Jordan Grand Prix. 'He only managed five laps and then had to stop 15 minutes before the end. There was a lot of work to do and he did not get out until the second session was 10 minutes old. But, apart from that, the day was trouble-free. There is a lot of work still to be done with the set-up on both cars.'

A quick lap in the closing minute of practice gave David Coulthard the fastest time, fractionally quicker than his McLaren team-mate, Mika Hakkinen, who is suffering from flu. Rubens Barrichello was the fastest Ferrari driver in third place, brake trouble ­and an off-course excursion­ keeping Michael Schumacher in fifth place, the world champion unable to complete his programme of work. Despite running wide on several occasions, Ralf Schumacher said he was happy with fourth fastest time, the second Williams of Juan-Pablo Montoya struggling into 11th place as the Colombian wrestled with a handling problem. Jacques Villeneuve, 10th fastest in his BAR, is to undergo investigation into back pain, the legacy of an accident in the Australian Grand Prix.

You can bet on Jordan -- and other teams -- through Jordan's official e-betting partner, Eurobet. If you are a UK resident, go to www.eurobet.co.uk. If not, place your bets through Eurobet's international site, www.eurobet.com.

Jordan Grand Prix


Friday Practice
  Pos    Driver    Team    Time    Speed     
  1.    Coulthard    McLaren    1:11.245    218.592     
  2.    Hakkinen    McLaren    1:11.272    218.509     
  3.    Barrichello    Ferrari    1:11.401    218.115     
  4.    Schumacher R    Williams    1:11.555    217.645     
  5.    Schumacher M    Ferrari    1:11.647    217.366     
  6.    Heidfeld    Sauber    1:11.776    216.975     
  7.    Frentzen    Benson & Hedges Jordan Honda    1:11.977    216.369     
  8.    Raikkonen    Sauber    1:12.189    215.734     
  9.    Panis    BAR Honda    1:12.259    215.525     
  10.    Villeneuve    BAR Honda    1:12.290    215.432     
  11.    Montoya    Williams    1:12.299    215.405     
  12.    Irvine    Jaguar    1:12.346    215.266     
  13.    Trulli    Benson & Hedges Jordan Honda    1:12.555    214.645     
  14.    Verstappen    Arrows    1:12.705    214.203     
  15.    de la Rosa    Jaguar    1:12.847    213.785     
  16.    Bernoldi    Arrows    1:12.853    213.767     
  17.    Burti    Prost    1:13.169    212.844     
  18.    Alesi    Prost    1:13.288    212.499     
  19.    Marques    Minardi    1:14.314    209.565     
  20.    Alonso    Minardi    1:14.523    208.977     
  21.    Fisichella    Benetton    1:14.833    208.111     
  22.    Button    Benetton    1:15.570    206.082     



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