Estoril Jordan testing 96-11-08

ESTORIL TEST JORDAN-PEUGEOT REPORT November 8, 1996 - Benson and Hedges Jordan's Ralf Schumach- er denied that there was any special rivalry between himself and two-time World Champion Michael Schumacher in Estoril today. It was the first time that Ralf has shared the tarmac with his famous brother, but the 21-year old resisted any attempts at comparison. "We're not here to fight each other, we're here to test," he said. Ralf, who will make his Grand Prix debut with Benson and Hedges Total Jordan-Peugeot at the start of the 1997 season has spent the past four days at the Portuguese track continuing the team's development programme for next season. He was joined on the final day by Michael who was undertaking tests for tire manufacturer Goodyear. "There is not any special fight between us," agreed Michael. "We're both professional racing drivers and when we're out on the track racing against each other next year, I will not treat him differently to any other driver. "I'm happy to tell him about a few of the little `tricks' at some of the circuits; the best way to start, the difficult cor- ners, things like that, but no more. We will definitely not be talking about technical things." Michael has followed his brother's career closely, and admitted to being impressed by his sibling's achievements. "Ralf is doing much better than I expected. I thought he would finish about third or fifth in the championship (All-Nippon F3000 series) this year, and then stay on to do another season in Japan. Instead he won the title; I didn't expect him to be so fast in the Jordan either, but he has been quick straight away. I think that looks good for next year, both for Ralf and the Jordan team. B&H Jordan travelled to Portugal to continue development work for the 1997 season. "We came here to put some more miles onto the new A14 engine and also to try to develop the TAG 2000 engine management system we'll be running in `97," explained team mamager Trevor Foster. "We were also trying out various chassis modifications and alter- ations for next year. "Although we had a few hiccups we still made some progress, Ralf's best lap which was timed at 1:21.458, was the fifth fast- est of the test." At the request of the team's engine partners, Peugeot, Ralf was joined in Estoril by Jean-Christoph Boullion. The Frenchman, who more regularly tests for the Williams team, spent the first two days working on the chassis and engine. "He drove well," said Foster. "His feedback was good, all in all we were very pleased with what he did. He approached the job well and made a positive contribution to the team." In fact he was asked to stay on for a further day to take part in tire tests for Goodyear, but the work was brought to a premature end when he crashed on Thursday morning. "I was disappointed about the accident," Boullion said. "That was definitely not in my programme. I was trying lots of different sets of tires for Goodyear and it's always difficult to know where the limit is with each different set. Otherwise it was a positive test for me; I think I did a good job and I enjoyed working with the team very much." Best times ~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:20.303 (Fri a.m.) 2. Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.72 (Fri a.m.) 3. Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.276 (Fri a.m.) 4. Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:21.422 (Tue p.m.) 5. Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot 1:21.458 (Thu p.m.) 6. Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:21.845 (Wed p.m.) 7. Jean-Christoph Boullion Jordan-Peugeot 1:21.994 (Thu a.m.) 8. Alexander Wurtz Benetton-Renault 1:22.138 (Fri a.m.) 9. David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.2 (Wed p.m.) 10. Jorg Muller Arrow-Hart 1:22.904 (Wed p.m.) 11. Pedro Diniz Arrows-Hart 1:23.571 (Thu p.m.)

Medice, cura te ipsum

* 1st 2.00 #8604 * Wonder what I'll do with it! - When I inherit the earth.