German GP Saturday Jordan notes

Hockenheim, Germany, 1st August 1999 Circuit Length 6.81/4.23 Total 307.022 Kms

Frentzen puts Jordan on front row.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen delighted his home crowd and his Benson and Hedges Jordan team in the qualifying session for the German Grand Prix by finishing second on the grid. His best time of 1.43.000 split the two McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard and gave Jordan its best result since Fisichella qualified second at Hockenheim in 1997.

Frentzen's second place is his best ever performance at this German circuit and has turned one of his dreams into reality. "I always dreamt of doing well at Hockenheim, so qualifying second is a fantastic result for me," he said. Second place is also his best performance of the season so far, a reflection of his growing confidence and talent as a driver, and of the improvements made by the Jordan Mugen-Honda team to the car and engine. As Frentzen explained, " I said earlier this week that I expected us to be more competitive here than in Zeltweg, and this has been the case. The team did a superb job - they helped me to find the right set up and they have made a lot of improvements to the car. It is great to be so close to the McLarens and be in a position to fight for pole. The new engine from Mugen-Honda has been a big help.

Damon Hill was unlucky i n qualifying. After an excellent performance in the morning session, when he finished the day in first place, he had hoped to qualify well. But on his penultimate lap, as he was about to post a fast time, he ran over debris left on the track by Fisichella's Benetton. "I am extremely disappointed to have qualified eighth.," said Hill. "I had wanted to be at least in the top six and had gone so well this morning that I had hoped for a good result in qualifying. I was not able to put together all the best section times in one lap, and so I will have to settle for starting in eighth place."

Eddie Jordan was delighted with his team's result. "This was a great result and a fantastic performance by Heinz who has shown his home fans that he is a top class driver. He has been driving superbly all year and to be five hundredths off the pole position time shows what a good job he did. The new engine we ran today in qualifying made a big difference and gave us the extra horsepower to place us on the front row of the starting grid. It gives us the opportunity to fight more in the race with McLaren and Ferrari. Damon was unlucky not to finish higher, but he has a good chance of winning points tomorrow."

The Ferraris qualified in 4th and 5th places, but it was Salo who finished higher than Irvine. The Finn reported that he was not surprised by his result since he is feeling a lot more confident in his new car this weekend.

Barrichello and Panis put in a strong showing, finishing 6th and 7th ahead of Hill.