22 April: San Marino Grand Prix - Friday Practice
Report - Jordan Grand
Prix
For the first European round of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship season, Jordan Grand Prix have spent a
normal Friday technical programme with particular emphasis on chassis balance, car set-up and tyre evaluation. Narain Karthikeyan
and Tiago Monteiro completed quite a significant number of laps without encountering any major technical hitches while Robert
Doornbos lost part of the second session after he spun and damaged his front wing. The team will now examine the data gathered
during both sessions in order to make further improvements on the car, focusing especially on optimising chassis performance over
the kerbs, which are a major characteristic of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
Team Quotes on the San Marino Grand
Prix Friday Free Practice Sessions
Tiago Monteiro “It was a very interesting session. We have tried different
tyres and now we know which ones we are going to use for the rest of the weekend. In the second session, we decided to conserve
engine mileage; but from what we have tried, we have found some right things, so this was a good start for us.”
Narain
Karthikeyan “The car seems to be working pretty well and I am quite happy with the performance in the first two free
practice sessions. Today was also the first time I have driven on this track so I spent a bit of time learning the layout. After I
sleep over it tonight, I am sure I will learn a few more tricks on the circuit tomorrow.”
Robert Doornbos “We
have done a lot of work today, together with Bridgestone to find the right tyre for the weekend. The first session went very well;
we tried some parts that we tested last week in Paul Ricard. Everything was looking really good until halfway through the afternoon
session when I spun in the famous corner “Acqua Minerale”. However, I managed to bring the car back to the garage, as I did not
want to give up. The team has made a good job to try to get me out on the track again but for safety reasons, we have decided not to
use the engine anymore as it overheated a bit. I am really sorry for that and I hope we will have a good weekend.”
Trevor
Carlin, Sporting Director “We are reasonably satisfied with today’s performance. Narain has done a very good job with his
best lap at 1.23.842, which put us 1.8 seconds behind the Ferraris, which is quite encouraging. Robert went through a suspension
programme, which unfortunately ended when he had a little spin and Tiago carried on with tyre evaluation.”
