24/02/2005
NEWS STORY
Jordan's many Irish fans, still mourning the departure of team founder Eddie Jordan, must prepare themselves for further bad news. New team owner, Alex Shnaider, is to transform the Silverstone-based outfit into a showcase for his country of birth, Russia.
On Friday, in Moscow, Jordan launches the last ever F1 car to carry the name, before Shnaider re-launches the team as Midland F1 in 2006.
Shnaider says that the team the charismatic Irishman founded, is no more, and that he has no intention of continuing the legacy. Instead, Midland F1 will reflect the 'new' Russia.
"We want to portray the progressive image that Russia has today," he told Reuters, " modern, intelligent and successful.
"Because of my Russian roots, I decided it would be an incredible opportunity to bring something back into Russia," said Shnaider, who is now a naturalised Canadian, having spent some time in Israel.
The team, which earlier this week announced the signing of Nicky Pastorelli as its test driver, is also to use young Russian driver Roman Rusinov in a similar role as the season progresses. Shnaider is eager to see Russian talent brought into F1, so much so that he is funding an F3 team in the EuroSeries.
Thus far, the EJ15 has run without sponsorship logos, though Shnaider is hoping to attract a number of new sponsors to the sport, particularly those of Russian origin.
Of his team's budget, said to be $100m, he said: "We think that this budget is sufficient in order to do all the things we would like to do," he said. "We are prepared to make substantial investments on our own, but obviously we will be looking for partners and sponsors to join us."