21 August: Turkish Grand Prix - Race Report - Jordan Grand
Prix
Jordan Grand Prix drivers, Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro, had very good starts at the inaugural Turkish Grand
Prix and managed to overtake a few cars. After his first pit stop, Monteiro experienced some gearbox issues, which prevented him
from pushing his car to a faster pace and allowed Karthikeyan to pass him after the second stop. Monteiro had an unavoidable
incident with Montoya at the end of the race, but nevertheless, he managed to finish in 15th position, his impressive 14th
consecutive finish. Both drivers had the same pit-stop strategy, which saw them stop three times for fuel on the way to the finish
and took a degree of satisfaction from their persistent performances in today’s race.
TEAM QUOTES ON THE TURKISH GRAND
PRIX RACE
NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN (EJ15/01) 14th “Losing nearly the whole of Saturday not completing any flying
laps hurt me a lot in the race, as, at the beginning, I had to take some time to learn the circuit again, which was a big
disadvantage. I kept pushing and I just wanted to finish the race. Towards the end, I had to be a bit conservative with my tyres
which explains why I could not catch Doornbos. Considering the amount of laps I have done on Saturday, I am fairly happy with my
result today.”
TIAGO MONTEIRO (EJ15/03) 15th “Another finish for me, which is good for the record and the team.
It was a very hard weekend because of the problem I had with an aching tooth. I was really fighting and I wanted a good result.
After the first pit stop, I had a gearbox problem and lost first gear and then all the gears were a bit mixed up, which made my race
very tricky. However, the times were looking good, I was quicker and quicker and catching my teammate near the end. Then, Montoya
overtook me and shut the door in a braking zone. I could not avoid pushing him as I was blind and lost all the downforce. I am
really sorry for him as he was fighting for a podium but we have talked a lot during the briefings that we should not move positions
in braking areas. I do not really know what happened as I have not talked to him yet.”
DOMINIC HARLOW, CHIEF RACE
& TEST ENGINEER “We are very pleased that both cars have finished again. Tiago had his 14th consecutive finish, which is
fantastic for a rookie. Narain did a great race having had so little running on a new circuit, having done only less than half a
race distance here before. It is a very useful experience for both drivers and we will now go to Monza next week to test the EJ15B.”
TEST
SCHEDULE Jordan Grand Prix will be testing the EJ15B at Monza from Wednesday 24 to Friday 26 August with Tiago Monteiro,
Narain Karthikeyan, Nicolas Kiesa and Nicky Pastorelli sharing the driving duties.
