Jordan Silverstone test 2001-09-19

2001 International F3000 Champion, Justin Wilson, fresh from the final championship race in Monza where he broke the record for the highest number of points scored in one season*, today drove a Formula One car for the first time when he stepped ...

2001 International F3000 Champion, Justin Wilson, fresh from the final championship race in Monza where he broke the record for the highest number of points scored in one season*, today drove a Formula One car for the first time when he stepped into the Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda EJ11 at Silverstone.

Wilson’s first experience at the wheel of a Formula One car proved very successful despite the wet conditions, with the Briton completing an impressive 82 laps while familiarising himself with the car and setting the fourth fastest time of 1:34.72.

Commenting on his first Formula One outing, Wilson said, 'It was amazing, but a steep learning curve. I had to get used to all sorts of things - even things you wouldn’t normally think about such as the brakes and internals of the cockpit with the different buttons and switches and the clutch being operated by hand rather than foot. Towards the end of the day it was coming together though and I felt more confident, so was able to put in some good lap times. In an F3000 car, the car accelerates and then normally tails off towards the top end, but the Jordan Honda just keeps pulling away until the point where you brake, so you have to adjust your driving to that.' He continued, 'The whole team has been great in helping me adjust to the car and I’m really pleased to have been given this opportunity to test for Jordan.'

Alesi posted the second fastest lap time of the session with 1:34.11, completing 87 laps. He spent the day working on general wet weather chassis set-up, reliability checks and engine development, utilising all available engine miles.

The team concluded a trouble-free second day of its three day test, with both Alesi and Wilson continuing testing tomorrow for the final day.

* Wilson scored 71 points in the 2001 International F3000 Champion, breaking Montoya’s record of 65 points.

<pre> Lap Times

Driver       Team          Time
-------------------------------
Wurz         McLaren    1:33.52
Alesi        Benson     1:34.11
Irvine       Jaguar     1:34.34
Wilson       Benson     1:34.72
Panis        BAR        1:35.24
De la Rosa   Jaguar     1:36.13
Button       Benetton   1:36.33
Webber       Benetton   1:36.95