Hungarian GP Jordan Preview

Budapest, Hungary, 16th August 1998 Circuit Length 3.97/2.47 Total 305.536 Kms PREVIEW MATERIAL FOR THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX The Benson and Hedges Jordan team travels to Hungary in fifth place in the 1998 World Championship having scored points in three consecutive races. With still much catching up to do to compensate for a bad start to the season, Jordan Grand Prix now aims to win points in the last five races, not only to build on its current standing, but also to lead the way for 1999. But, as Chief Designer, Mike Gascoyne explains, Hungary will be a difficult test for the team. "Hungary is a maximum downforce circuit where traditionally Jordan has struggled. It is similar to Monaco, where we had our worst performance of the year, so the weekend in Budapest will be a good test to see how much progress we have made. I expect it to be more of a struggle than the last few races, and the heat and bumpy track may cause us problems so I doubt we will be as competitive as recently. We should still aim, however, to qualify both cars in the top ten and score points." "To aid our performance we have made developments aerodynamically to the front end of the car which we hope we will have cured a problem we have had so far this season with balance on high downforce circuits. Overall a good deal of progress has been made by the team to the car since Monaco, and we have made huge improvements in terms of reliability, pit stops and pit stop strategies. In addition the drivers are making fewer mistakes, so these factors should benefit us." The Hungaroring is a circuit both Ralf Schumacher and Damon Hill enjoy, perhaps Damon in particular, influenced no doubt by memories of his strong performance there last year and victories in 1993 and 1995. "I really like Hungary -all the corners are really good. Turn 1 is particularly tricky because there is a big drop from the straight in the braking area so you are actually braking downhill and turning into a corner which drops away from you which makes the car lighter. You can get on the power quite early there and 'sling-shot' out of the corner into the next one. In some ways the circuit is similar to Monaco - slightly faster but without the barriers next to the track and you are always fidgeting with the car." Ralf, who first raced in Hungary in the Porshe Supercup in 1996, and finished 5th there for Benson and Hedges Jordan last year, enjoys his stay in the country's capital city. "Budapest is very beautiful, especially the Buda side, which has wonderful views along the river."