Thumbs up from The Swerve

No hard feelings
By Phil Giles (09-02-03)
February 9 2003

Eddie Irvine had given the union between Jordan and Ralph Firman his complete blessing saying that the drive "couldn't have gone to a better bloke." Eddie and Ralph are well known to each other. Ralph's father, Ralph snr gave Irvine a helping hand, earlier in Eddies racing career.

"If it hadn't been for Ralph's dad, who knows where my career may have gone? But he was the one who saw my potential and handed me a real lifeline." Said Irvine.

‘The only stumbling block was that Ralph needed me to find £12,000 ($19,000) towards his budget, a lot of cash in those days. I had made around £5,000 from buying and selling cars in between racing so I handed that over.  But he never once pressured me for the rest because during the 1987 season we were flying. I had the best car and went on to win the RAC Championship which brought in a few bob in prize money."

‘What really pleases me is Ralph has served what I would call a proper apprenticeship,’ he said. ‘There are too many young drivers who get the chance to drive a grand prix car just because their face fits.’

Jordan Fans will get a chance to see just how good Ralph is when he takes to the track in his first test for the team at Valencia tomorrow (Monday).  The EJ13 has been setting some impressive times and expectation is high that Ralph will be able to match the times set by Giancarlo Fisichella.