French GP: Jordan Saturday notes

DHL Jordan Honda experienced a luckless day, with Giancarlo Fisichella sitting out of qualifying after a heavy accident during morning practice and a top ten grid position evading Takuma Sato in the final minutes. Fisichella underwent checks at the circuit medical centre with Professor Sid Watkins and later he had full scans in hospital at Nevers, which confirmed he has no serious injuries. Professor Watkins' advice concerning the force of the impact was that Fisichella should not participate in qualifying or tomorrow's race.

TAKUMA SATO

"We thought temperatures would go up during the session so we decided to go out early. Each attack was very consistent with small improvements each time. But the midfield is very competitive and unfortunately I lost places in the last few minutes. Until then I was tenth so I'm a little bit disappointed, although I think I did all I could."

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA

"I don't remember what happened. I know I lost the front wing but I don't know why. I feel alright, I just have a slight headache and some neck pain. The doctor told me it's not possible for me to race because of the very big deceleration I experienced in the accident, so I'm going to rest in preparation for Hockenheim."

GARY ANDERSON DIRECTOR OF RACE AND TEST ENGINEERING

"That was disappointing as we were looking reasonable until the end. We decided to go a little bit early on the last run to avoid getting caught in traffic and it looks like it was the wrong decision. It would have been nice to start in the top ten but sometimes that's the way it goes. Takuma did three laps all within a hundredth of a second of each other and he did a very commendable job. It's a relief to know that Giancarlo is okay, as it was a big impact this morning. We think the front of the car hit a high kerb the lap before his front wing came off. He needs to take it easy for a few days."

TAKUMA SATO
P14 - 1:13.542
CHASSIS NUMBER: 4
GIANCARLO FISICHELLA
DNQ
CHASSIS NUMBER: 6

-jordan-