18th January - EJ12 expected to test at Silverstone next week.


EJ11 replacement due next week.
With many teams already testing their 2002 contender, albeit towards the back of the timesheets, there has not been much noise from Jordan as to when we might see their championship challanger.

In previous years the team have run the new car immediately following the official launch but with six weeks to go until the season starts, no date has yet been given for the 2002 launch.
It is felt that the delay is not due to any technical problems in getting the car onto the track, but because there are still sponsorship issues to be sorted.
Most importantly, the size of the investment of title sponsor, Benson & Hedges, for next year is rumoured to not yet be finalised.

As a result the EJ12 will see the light of day for the first time next week at Silverstone, with the official launch expected to be a purely commercial affair, confirming sponsors and investment for the year, in early February.

Until the commerical launch, the EJ12 will either be completely unbranded or will run in 2001 colours and layout, so we will have a bit of a wait to see if the shark motive survives.

A Jordan spokeswoman has said that Jordan hope to have a private shakedown for the EJ12, including the new Honda RA002E power unit, at Silverstone on Monday 21st January. They will then take full part in the official test session at the UK track from 22nd - 24th January.

The team has also said that they do not expect to appoint a test driver in the near future as they want to give Takuma Sato as much track time as possible.
However, when additional driving assistance is needed, 2001 third driver Ricardo Zonta is not expected to be considered for the seat.



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