Australian GP: Jordan Saturday qualifying notes

Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano qualified for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix in 15th and 16th positions following the first ever qualifying under the new 2004 format. Both drivers were reasonably satisfied with their final qualifying laps, which followed trouble- free free practice and first qualifying sessions.

Nick Heidfeld (EJ14/03)
"My second qualifying lap was better than the first. I was hoping to beat Cristiano da Matta but it did not happen even though I did the maximum possible. The car has a good set-up for the race judging by this morning because we did a relatively long run, given that we have to be careful with engine mileage, and the car was quite consistent. After this morning it looked like we would be stronger over a distance than on a single lap so I'm hopeful."

Giorgio Pantano (EJ14/02)
"We tried to do our best for our first qualifying. I don't think we did our complete maximum and we can be better so we still need to work a lot."

James Robinson, Head of Race and Test Engineering
"It was interesting to see how this new qualifying sequence runs and I'm sure there will be an awful lot of analysis going on over the next few days. At the end of the day we have to take some positives from being P15 and P16 and we are not looking in a bad position for the race tomorrow, given the good homework we have been doing. It's good to see the team performed well under pressure, as did the drivers, all contributing to a solid weekend and hopefully points tomorrow."

QUALIFYING 2
Nick Heidfeld: 15th, 1:28.178
Giorgio Pantano: 16th, 1:30.140

-jordan-