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The Jordan Honda team go to Brazil boosted by the reliability of the EJ12s, which was demonstrated first at the Malaysian Grand Prix and then in 3 days of testing at Barcelona. Gary Anderson, the Director of Race and Test Engineering, is happy with the improvements, “Despite the disappointment of not scoring points in Sepang, mainly due to the incident where Sato ran into Fisichella, we are heartened by the fact that both cars finished the race and indeed the entire weekend, without a single technical problem. Testing in Barcelona last week has also confirmed that the EJ12 is becoming a very reliable car, and we’re hoping for positive results at this race.”
The first two races of the season have not been kind to Jordan and as a result they head to Interlagos with no points on the board. But the Brazilian circuit has been a good circuit and hopes of breaking the duck are high. “The Brazilian Grand Prix has been quite a good race for Jordan in recent years," explaind Eddie Jordan. "We’ve had four points finishes in three years and two of those were podiums in 1999 and 2000. Giancarlo has finished in the points here three times in the past four years, with a second place in 2000, so I am expecting him to perform well. It would be great to score our first points of the season at this race.”
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The track is different in many ways to others in the year, but it's the same for all teams and drivers, so Giancarlo is looking forward to the change. “I like the circuit in Sao Paolo very much, on a technical level. The anti-clockwise direction has a high impact on the neck muscles, as it puts forces on the opposite side to most circuits, and therefore is fairly demanding. The track itself is irregular and quite bumpy, making it a very physical drive. I am happy to race in both wet and dry conditions, in fact the ‘Garoa’ (local name for the cold) seems to have been on my side in previous years! I really enjoy visiting Brazil because I like the people and going to the churrascarias.”
It's not been a boring start to an f1 career for Takuma, and now he has to race on a circuit he does not know that well, but he has done as much preperation as he can. “I have driven at Interlagos just once before. At the end of the F3 season, I took my engineer from Carlin Motorsport to the circuit and drove an old F3 car there for one day. It is unusual to drive anticlockwise, but I have focussed much winter training on my neck muscles so I’m sure I will be fine.”
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