04/03/2005
NEWS STORY
Making their debuts for Jordan Grand Prix today at Albert Park in Melbourne, Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan were joined by third driver Robert Doornbos for both Free Practice sessions. Monteiro and Doornbos worked steadily through a chassis set-up and Bridgestone tyre programme without any major technical hitches, however Karthikeyan's track time was cut short in the first session by a small oil leak that was rectified for the second session.
Tiago Monteiro: It was my first contact on the track today. It was not very easy because I have to adapt myself to the bumpy conditions and work more on the set up to feel more comfortable in the car. It is the first day of acclimatisation but I am confident we are going to improve tomorrow.
Narain Karthikeyan: I lost a lot of time this morning because of an oil leak, so after that I have been pushing very hard. Now I just need to calm down a bit because I was under pressure to perform.
Robert Doornbos: It is great to be back in a Formula One car after three months. This morning went very well. I felt very comfortable in the car straight away and I learnt the circuit very quickly. This afternoon, we have made some changes on the car as the circuit conditions were changing and we worked very well with Bridgestone and I am sure we are going to find a good solution for Sunday.
Trevor Carlin, Sporting Director: We are generally quite satisfied today with picking which tyres we are going to race on this weekend. After resolving Narain's oil leak this morning, everything ran very smoothly. The drivers are just learning the circuit. We are very happy with the progress we have been making.