Difficult Friday for Monteiro

Monteiro happy with EJ15, but not Brazilian track

The first day of free practice ahead of the Brazilian Grand prix this weekend, was a little rough for Jordan Toyota driver, Tiago Monteiro, the Portuguese racer complaining about an abnormal physical tiredness at the end of the day, brought on by the irregularities of the asphalt on the Interlagos circuit, which required special adaptations in the set up of the EJ15B.

At the end of Friday's session, the one day he normally devotes as much time as possible to in regard to race preparation, Tiago declared: "The day went well, as we did not have any important mechanical issues, even on this very bumpy track."

"The surface is very bad though, the worst of the entire championship, and we therefore must find a compromise. You need a flexible car over the bumps, but in the slow corners the chassis then reacts very badly. It is therefore not easy to decide which set up to adopt."

However, in the second hour, Tiago was only two seconds down the leaders: "I like the track, and yes it is difficult, but I must adapt. Today, our work went well and we are satisfied because we are closer to the drivers ahead of us."

"Also, the difference compared to Ferrari, who also use Bridgestone, was smaller. In general, we did our work and we evaluated tyres in order to make our choice for the race. Unfortunately it does not seem that one can count on the assistance of the rain here in Brazil."

Tiago will be the 12th driver out for his qualifying run tomorrow after finishing eighth in the Belgian GP two weeks ago.

-dca-