Austrian GP: Jordan Friday notes

The DHL Jordan Honda drivers both gave positive feedback on the EJ12's new front wing in today's first Free Practice, however they struggled with grip on a dirty track. Giancarlo Fisichella's second session ended more than half an hour early after he made a mistake and spun off at the first corner. Takuma Sato's day was productive overall, with no major problems and good progress made on aerodynamics and general set-up.

TAKUMA SATO

"I am quite happy with today, although we lost grip this afternoon. It's difficult to get the right balance at this track, but we did some good back-to-back aero tests and I think the new wing is a positive step for the EJ12. We didn't do any runs with new tyres, which most other teams did, so that probably had a reflection on our times. We had no mechanical problems and I feel I've learned the circuit very quickly. It's a nice circuit, but you just have to get the right combination in the high-speed corners. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA

"It was a good first session but then in the second one I made a little mistake at turn one and spun off. Everybody was struggling with grip today and it's easy to make errors. The new wing makes the handling better and we will run with that tomorrow. I've got a lot to do in the morning."

GARY ANDERSON DIRECTOR OF RACE AND TEST TEAM

"We were happy with this morning but then the afternoon got a little bit messy, with Giancarlo spinning off. Everyone out there was spinning somewhere, as the track was very dusty. We were unlucky enough to spin and get stuck, which knocked us back a bit. We made some set-up changes on Takuma's car in between the two sessions, which turned out to be not necessarily the right direction, so we had to revise it, losing us time in the afternoon. We're hoping for a better day tomorrow."

TAKUMA SATO 10th 1:11.537
CHASSIS NUMBER 3
GIANCARLO FISICHELLA 18th 1:12.193
CHASSIS NUMBER 5

-jordan-