Jordan's split by Minardi in Practice

By Phil Giles
July 23 2004

Tyres were the main focus of Jordan's preparations for the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, however both Timo and Giorgio reported problems with the rear of the the car locking up under braking.

Timo Glock again lead for the team during today's running.  Surely the German must be a favourite for a race seat at Jordan in 2005.

Timo commented "In the first practice session we had problems with locking and too much understeer but we worked hard to find a slightly better compromise for the braking system which made things better. During the morning I damaged the front wing touching the kerb at the first corner, my mistake, and we lost a little bit of time as a result while the team repaired the car. My timed lap at the end wasn’t too bad but minutes before the morning session finished I had a problem with the anti-stall system and the car stopped. The car was fairly good in the second session but then I damaged the front wing again. After that I was able to do some long runs which were quite good and I think we have found a good tyre. On the last run I think I could have gone three tenths faster if it hadn’t been for traffic in the first sector."

Nick's comments showed that he's looking to improve on today's times, however not for the first time this season, the Jordan was outpaced by a Minardi.  The team and the drivers felt that the car had improved by the end of the weekend, however it  had improved by the end of the afternoon's running.  Hopes for the team rest with potential wet weather during qualifying and the race.

Nick said: "After a reasonable start to the first session with some good adjustments to the car, unfortunately the changes we made for the second session didn’t improve it. We tried to come back on some of those things towards the end of the afternoon and I did a fairly long run to get some information for the tyres. I’m sure that we can progress in time for tomorrow."

Giorgio advised "This morning we had problems with rear locking but by the time the session ended we had understood what to do and changed something on the rear and on the brake side. In the second session the car improved quite a bit and I think we can probably get even better on the lap time."

James Robinson said "We progressed through our usual free practice programme today working closely with Bridgestone who have worked very hard to bring a new tyre for us in Hockenheim. We were looking to get some distance on those tyres and get through important set-up work. We now need to see if the rain will come tomorrow and how we will deal with this for qualifying."

And the good news: Albers to test.

Dutchman Christijan Albers is due to test for the team again during the final test session at Silverstone on the 15th September.  Albers has been linked to a possible engine supplier which EJ has been know to be courting over the last few months.  Albers has also been linked to increased interest from Jos Verstappen's sponsors Trust.  Perhaps the Dutch firm will be willing to increase their sponsorship with their countryman in the drivers seat.