Austrian GP: Jordan race notes

Ralph Firman finished 11th in a tough Austrian Grand Prix for Jordan Ford. After two aborted starts and a period spent behind the safety car at the beginning of the race, the drivers battled against tyre blistering and oversteer. Fisichella was forced to retire six laps from the end with a fuel system problem however Firman's car remained reliable and he was able to hold off a late challenge from Villeneuve to maintain his finishing position.

Ralph Firman:

"We were a bit worried about the temperature build-up with the two aborted starts, as the clutch can get too hot, but it was all okay with no problems. The car was quite good in the race and I managed to get past Coulthard at the safety car re-start, although my out-laps after the stops weren't very good. It rained on my first one and on cold tyres the car locked the rears when I downshifted and I nearly spun. On the second out-lap Da Matta got on the inside of me and pushed me wide, but the car was not too bad after that. It's a shame we weren't able to score points."

Giancarlo Fisichella:

"I'm not happy at the moment. That was another disappointing race and my third retirement in three. We had a very difficult race, with extremely low grip levels. It is not good at all and we need something for the future. I know the team are working really hard and I hope we can find some improvements quite quickly."

Gary Anderson, Director of race and test engineering:

"Not the best afternoon, actually it was quite a non-event for us. The only exciting bit was Michael catching fire and seeing him sitting there just watching it go out and then going off to win. We weren't quick enough really, and it was a challenge. Giancarlo suffered from blistering on the rear tyres and I'm sure Ralph had the same. It looks like Giancarlo's failure was a problem with the fuel system. The data showed that the fuel pressure dropped to zero for some reason and then he retired. We know that the correct amount of fuel went in so we'll have a closer look later. Roll on Monaco - all the people we saw going off the edge of the track at the A1 Ring won't be doing that there!"

Eddie Jordan, Chief Executive:

"We are just not quick enough. It's disappointing that we had another failure with Giancarlo and we are working very hard to prevent these things from happening. Ralph again did a good job to finish."

RALPH FIRMAN: 11th
CHASSIS NUMBER: EJ13-03

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA: DNF (fuel system, lap 63)
CHASSIS NUMBER: EJ13-04

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