09/06/2005
NEWS STORY
Jordan Grand Prix announced on Thursday the appointment of Adrian Burgess as acting Sporting Director, effective immediately, taking over the duties previously administered by Trevor Carlin, who will focus on his ongoing duties as Managing Director of Carlin Motorsport. In addition to these new responsibilities, Mr Burgess will continue in his role as Sporting Manager, overseeing all aspects of the team’s race and test divisions.
Mr Burgess, 36, possesses more than 20 years’ experience at the top levels of open-wheel motor racing. He began his motor racing career at the age of 15 before joining McLaren in 1991. Trevor Carlin spotted his talent and appointed him race engineer with Carlin Motorsport in 1999. During his time at Carlin, he went on to manage their British F3 and World Series teams. In 2005, he joined Mr Carlin at Jordan Grand Prix as Sporting Manager.
Colin Kolles, Jordan’s Managing Director, said: "I want to thank Trevor Carlin for the exceptional work he has done to bring Jordan Grand Prix back on track. I fully understand his reasons for stepping down, though his departure does create a void, both within the team and for me personally. We have worked together for several years and I consider him a trusted friend and colleague. I am grateful that he was able to nurture a talent like Adrian Burgess, who brings valuable and relevant skills to the team. I have followed Adrian’s career for the last five years and am very proud that we are being given the chance to make use of his impressive experience. As I have always maintained, our situation of being in a transition year gives us the unique opportunity to try different options to ensure that next year, when the team will race as Midland F1, we will be able to be competitive from the very beginning. With Adrian at the helm of the race and test divisions and Trevor Carlin in the background as our senior advisor, I am confident we can achieve our objectives."
Trevor Carlin, outgoing Sporting Director, commented: "I am very pleased to be involved in the whole Midland F1 Project from its conception, and I hand over my role as Sporting Director at Jordan Grand Prix to Adrian Burgess, knowing he will do a superb job. Alex Shnaider and Colin Kolles have a very clear vision of where they want to take Midland F1 and the purchase of the Jordan Grand Prix Team was the first step.” Adrian Burgess, acting Sporting Director, stated: “I would like to thank Trevor for all the hard work he has put into rebuilding the team for the future and for helping to put in place the building blocks we need to move this team forward. Now, we must get our heads down and get on with the job of preparing for our entry as Midland F1 in the 2006 championship"