19/06/2004
NEWS STORY
The conditions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (USA) were dry and hot as Jaguar Racing drivers Mark Webber (27) and Christian Klien (21) took part in today's qualifying ahead of the US Race tomorrow. Both Mark and Christian drove clean laps in both the first and second qualifying sessions and secured grid positions of 10th and 13th respectively. Apart from an incident this morning when Mark braked late and spun causing damage to the front of the car, the team have experienced a good weekend completing their test programmes and increasing their pace on track. They are now focusing on the task ahead of them tomorrow and given the strength of their strategy should be racing for points from the start.
Mark Webber: My first practice session this morning was productive and the car was feeling good. The second session was however, cut short when I braked late on corner six and ended up in the gravel. The damage was not too extensive and the team did a great job making the repairs in time for my qualifying session this afternoon. Going into this afternoon's qualifying session I was confident that the car was well set-up and balanced. I am really pleased with my qualifying lap. It felt good out there and the car is in good shape. You have to be careful to control your agression here as pushing too hard only slows you down. The track temperature was also increasing this afternoon and with that the grip was decreasing. The balance in particular is good on the long runs and I am in looking forward to the race. We believe we have a good strategy in place and we are in a points fighting position.
Christian Klien: I was enjoying my practice sessions this morning and the car's pace was improving all the time. Going into qualifying my car was well set-up and the balance feels good. My first qualifying sector was encouraging and an accurate reflection of the car's pace. My final qualifying was not perhaps as good as I would have liked and slightly slower than the first but I am still pleased with my 13th position. I will be looking to make a good start and given our strategy going into tomorrow I feel that we are in a good situation. I will certainly be doing what I can to score points and I am really excited about competing in my first US race here in Indianapolis tomorrow.
Dr Mark Gillan Head of Vehicle Performance: We spent this morning working on balance and also on mechanical and aerodynamic work. Both Mark and Christian did some good work in the car and it was only Mark's incident in the second session this morning that took us away from our planned programme. Mark seemed to brake slightly too late into corner six and it caused him to go off-track, hitting the front of the car and damaging the suspension. The guys did a great repair job and Mark kept the same car for qualifying. The qualifying session was good for us and I am pleased with our grid positions for tomorrow's race. Christian has been gradually improving all weekend and I am looking forward to watching the race tomorrow and seeing how we do. We have been working on our strategy over the weekend and I very much hope that it will stand us in good stead for a points finish here tomorrow.