08/09/2004
NEWS STORY
Jordan Ford goes to the Italian Grand Prix straight from a three-day test at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza with all three drivers - Nick Heidfeld, Giorgio Pantano and Timo Glock – contributing to the programme. The team carried out almost 1500km of testing, with extensive work on Bridgestone’s tyre test programme and some preparation work for next year’s EJ15.
James Robinson: The test at Monza last week was good because we were able to get all three of our drivers in the car and that was useful especially for Timo who has never been there in single seaters. He has learned a new circuit which will hopefully stand us in good stead for the race weekend. Our programme focused on a number of areas with effort targeted on evaluating tyres with Bridgestone for the Italian Grand Prix, which is excellent as it means we can make a late call on the tyre we need for the race. Our other work has been looking at development areas for the 2005 car and we completed a trouble-free 500km a day so all in all a productive test. For the race, the aero package is exclusive to Monza. Running with low downforce settings require different techniques and set-ups. All the drivers know the circuit now and Giorgio performed very well here in F3000. The fact that the drivers have all been driving here a week before the Grand Prix means during the weekend we can concentrate on fine-tuning the car rather than some of the larger steps we have to take at other race weekends.
Nick Heidfeld: It was good to get back into testing again as we test less than other teams so our days are really important. We have got some good information in preparation for the race and we were able to test quite a few things but as is always the way, you want a bit more time to get deeper into evaluating things. Monza is a special circuit because it’s high speed and offers good overtaking opportunities. It has a lot of history and tradition and really stands out compared to other tracks. For us it’s going to be a challenge but with the test last week we have a slight head start compared to other races.
Giorgio Pantano: I feel very good to be racing in Monza at my home Grand Prix. I am looking forward to it and I would really like to have a good race there because there will be a lot of people who have come to see me. As a boy I went to Monza quite a few times to watch the race and I always did quite well there in the three years I did F3000. I am happy we are going there also because I like the circuit. It’s a fast one, one of the quickest ones we race at. Testing last week was good: we mainly tested tyres for the Italian Grand Prix and it went pretty well.
Timo Glock: It was a fairly good test at Monza although I would have liked a bit more time. I did a test here with Porsche at the beginning of the year, but I discovered it’s totally different in F1. It looks like an easy circuit but it’s very difficult in F1 because you have really low downforce. I spent a lot of time discussing it with the engineers and ideally I need a long run there to get into the rhythm but that wasn’t part of our test programme. At least I have a bit of a head start for the Grand Prix weekend as I know where I need to improve.