Jordan ready to test after shakedown

Jordan's distinctive yellow transporters are today preparing to set off for Barcelona, where the Jordan Ford EJ13 will run for the first time in public on Monday 20 January. The team is looking forward to starting its test programme in preparation for Grand Prix season , following a successful initial shakedown test with Giancarlo Fisichella on Tuesday (14 January).

The arrival of the EJ13 was the ultimate gift for Fisichella, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, and it also heralded the debut of the Ford Cosworth RS engine which will power the Jordan EJ13s in this year's Formula One World Championship. The test marked the start of Jordan's three-year deal with Ford of Europe and Cosworth Racing.

The all-new EJ13, produced by a design team headed by Director of Design and Development Henri Durand and Director of Race and Test Engineering Gary Anderson, bears little resemblance to its predecessor and will carry out initial testing in striking plain black bodywork prior to the unveiling of the team livery. The team's objective is to achieve maximum impact for existing and new sponsors and partners when the car is officially launched rather than carrying out initial testing with an interim livery.

Giancarlo Fisichella said, "This has been a good start - I am very impressed by the engine's power and also with the car which not only looks very nice but is aggressive and simple. Everything went okay without any major problems so I am looking forward to starting testing in Barcelona on Monday."

The Jordan Ford EJ13 ran on a closed section of the Silverstone track, making its initial run shortly after 11am and successfully completing its shakedown schedule mid-afternoon. Gary Anderson commented, "This gave us the opportunity to run the car from the point of view of checking the electronic set-up and making sure the basic systems such as water and oil did their job prior to going to Barcelona to run properly. It's nice to make a plan five months ago and achieve it to within the hour -- everyone has worked hard and done a good job. This car is more complete now than last year's was when we went to the first race in Melbourne and it's come out exactly as specified in terms of the aerodynamic and weight targets."

Henri Durand said, "The EJ13 is a very important car for Jordan Grand Prix. Five months ago the technical team decided on our technical objectives and approach and we have achieved all that we set out to do. The concept of the car is based on having good aerodynamic efficiency allied to engineering simplicity. We have used the very considerable expertise which exists here within Jordan and also with our new partners at Cosworth Racing. The Ford Cosworth RS engine is obviously a very important aspect of the new car, which has been easy to integrate into the new design and has all of the qualities we would expect from a top ranking engine."

-jordan-