Jordan's Red Square Launch

By Phil Giles
February 27 2005

Jordan officially rolled out it's 2005 Championship contender at a very chilly and snow bound Red Square in Moscow on Friday (25 Feb).

The team want to project a "Russian flavour" and this was the main reason for presenting the new car in the shadow of the Kremlin, however looking at the publicity photographs taken, there appeared to be more team personnel, media and members of the Russian Military present than your down to earth Formula One fan.  Despite a bit of indecision from the drivers, the team are clearly hoping that the Russian people will embrace them as their national team.

The car (a modified EJ13) showed more backing than it has done during the recent testing sessions which was good to see, however how important is sponsorship to a Russian Billionaire who can throw as much money at the team that he wants?

The team are now on their way down under to start off their campaign at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

"I’m really excited to visit Moscow." Said Tiago. "This is my first time in Russia and I’m impressed with how striking the place is and how busy and welcoming the people are. It is great to be able to bring the car with us just days before we leave for the first race, so Russian people can experience F1 up close in their own country. I really appreciate the support we have from fans here and it’s going to give us an extra boost of motivation in Melbourne in a week’s time and throughout the whole season.”

"We are delighted to be able to bring our Jordan car and drivers to Moscow." said Trevor Carlin.  "It’s a magnificent city and we really are honoured to be hosted as F1 representatives in Russia. We are meeting some fantastic people during our visit and I wish it had not been such a brief stay. We’re going directly to Melbourne now to make our final preparations for the Australian Grand Prix - we can’t wait to race!"

Narain Karthikeyan said, “I think Russia, like my home country India, is a nation which would very much like to host a race in the future Grand Prix calendar. There are many similarities between us, although the climate is certainly not one of them! I think the main thing is more and more people are now backing Formula One. It’s such a great business opportunity for sponsors and with the sport attracting interest in new countries, the fans are increasing in number by the day. I hope Russian motorsport fans adopt us as their team and I hope we can make them proud.”

Colin Kolles, Managing Director of Jordan Grand Prix, said “We want our F1 team to have a Russian flavour so it was very important to introduce ourselves appropriately to the media and business here in Moscow. We want to show them how thrilling Formula One is and I hope that it has been exciting for people to see a Formula One car and racing drivers here at the heart of the Russian capital.”