Difficult start for Jaguar

It was a difficult start for Jaguar Racing in the opening practice session for the German Grand Prix. Mark Webber did not complete a lap and team-mate Christian Klien was restricted to just nine laps. Test driver Bjorn Wirdheim meanwhile made useful progress, getting in 20 laps and ending up 17th fastest as he tested a variety of new parts.

The initial plan was for Webber to do only a few laps at the end of the session in order to save engine miles while the data was established by the other two drivers. However Klien was experiencing a problem with a new part that had been introduced to the car as part of an aerodynamic update last week.

The session was stopped with 15 minutes to go while some debris was cleared from the track and Jaguar Racing decided to use this time to replace the problem part on Klien's car.

"It was a case of all hands to the pump," said chief of car performance Dr Mark Gillan, "and so the planned run with Mark didn't happen. However we've now rectified the problem with Christian's car and we will reclaim the lost ground this afternoon."

Wirdheim was happy with progress after testing fuel system developments, new cooling parts, getting data for the tyre choice and also investigating strategy options.

-jaguar-