17 June: United States Grand Prix - Friday Practice
Report - Jordan Grand
Prix
Jordan Grand Prix started its preparations for the United States Grand Prix, the second half of a North American back
to back races, without encountering any technical problems. Tiago Monteiro, Narain Karthikeyan and Robert Doornbos spent their
opening day learning the layout of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit and concentrating particularly on finding a consistent
chassis balance that works both on the flat-out Speedway section and on the tight “infield”. They also made the usual
Bridgestone tyre evaluation and comparison. The team collected a useful amount of data, and looks forward to making further progress
tomorrow.
TEAM QUOTES ON THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX FRIDAY FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS
NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN “The
track is quite straightforward and not too hard to learn. What is really crucial here is to position the car well for the fast
corners. The emphasis is on traction so we will try to improve the car for tomorrow. Otherwise, I am relatively satisfied with these
two practice sessions today and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
TIAGO MONTEIRO “In these two sessions today,
we have been working on the balance of the car which is important here and been purely concentrating on a race set-up as it is only
time we can hopefully score points. The track was very slippery and not very challenging and I have to admit I was not very
impressed with it. We have another hour and half tomorrow to improve the car and see where we are.”
ROBERT DOORNBOS “It
was fun to be back in the car after a long time. The oval is a great place to drive. My main job was to help the team make the right
choice of Bridgestone tyres for the race. This morning, the track was quite dirty but it improved in the afternoon and I was able to
improve my lap times. I think we have a clear view about which tyres to use and I have really enjoyed driving here today.”
ADRIAN
BURGESS, SPORTING DIRECTOR “All three drivers got used to a new track here at Indianapolis without too much trouble.
Besides, we are happy with the fuel load we have been carrying today. Now we have to sit down and make a careful decision about our
tyre choice for the weekend and analyse the useful information we have been collecting to get more from the car and the rest of the
package for tomorrow and Sunday. ”
