Australian GP: Jordan Friday practice notes

Jordan Ford began its 2004 campaign with a new car and all-new driver line-up today at Albert Park in Melbourne, with Timo Glock joining race drivers Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano for both Free Practice sessions. Heidfeld and Pantano worked steadily through a Bridgestone tyre and set-up programme without any major technical hitches, however Glock's track time was cut short by a mechanical problem in both sessions which the team is investigating.

Nick Heidfeld:

"It's good to be back out on track and we did our tyre evaluation programme but I'm a bit frustrated that we weren't able to carry out a set-up change I wanted to make after the morning session, and now we have limited time available. Otherwise, I think I'd have been a bit further ahead in the timing sheets. If it had given me an extra tenth I would have been within range of Toyota and Jaguar, a good starting point at our first race."

Giorgio Pantano:

"I enjoyed my first day of Grand Prix driving and I'm concentrating entirely on learning as everything here is new for me. We are making every effort to do our best and I think in preparation for tomorrow we can make changes and improve, for sure."

Timo Glock:

"It was great today, a lot of fun doing laps with the rest of the Formula One field. During the second session the car felt really good and the times weren't bad but quite early on in the afternoon we had a problem ­ maybe the gearbox - and my session stopped there."

James Robinson, Head of race and test engineering:

"On our first day of racing in 2004 we are finding our feet with a brand new car, totally new driver line-up, a new set-up on the technical side and some new people so it's enjoyable but a steep learning curve. We will examine the problem with Timo's car very carefully as it's not acceptable to lose valuable track time like this in both sessions."

FREE PRACTICE 1
Nick Heidfeld
Chassis: EJ14/03
17th, 1:29.826, 11 laps

Giorgio Pantano
Chassis: EJ14/02
20th: 1:30.100, 18 laps

Timo Glock
Chassis: EJ14/01
21st, 1:31.626, 11 laps

FREE PRACTICE 2
Nick Heidfeld
Chassis: EJ14/03
19th, 1:27.826, 15 laps

Giorgio Pantano
Chassis: EJ14/02
23rd, 1:29.708, 18 laps

Timo Glock
Chassis: EJ14/01
24th, 1:30.291, 11 laps

-jordan-