Monaco GP Jaguar qualifying notes

Jaguar Racing had cause to be quietly satisfied with its drivers' qualifying performances for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix as the team posted its best qualifying results so far this season. In particular Eddie Irvine's experience and courage around the tight street circuit paid dividends as his lap times fell consistently throughout the session to leave him in sixth place on the grid for the race. Pedro de la Rosa also made good progress during his four hot laps to achieve fourteenth position and his best result to date. The team is pleased with the steps forward it has made with its new aerodynamic package for the Jaguar R2 and its traction control system continues to operate well. Nevertheless, everyone at Jaguar Racing is aware that this momentum must be sustained if the team is to start scoring points.

Eddie Irvine

"That is about as good as it gets. The car ran perfectly, the team did a great job and I got four clear laps. The new aerodynamic package has given us the edge that we needed to get closer to the front runners. I love this place. This circuit has always been good to me and to have put the car on the third row is absolutely fantastic. We must, however, remain realistic. It's all very well qualifying P6 here but we now need to translate this performance into a points finish and then make it work at other circ uits. It's a great morale booster for everybody especially the team back at the factory who have worked so hard over the year so far. Let's hope this is the change of fortune that we've been hoping for."

Pedro de la Rosa

"This was about playing catch-up for me. I lost most of Thursday's Free Practice time and I tried very hard to make up for that today. Each time I went out, I posted a quicker time apart from the last run. The team did a good job and I'm pleased with the way we are progressing. The changes that have been made to this team are now beginning to manifest themselves and there's still more development to come."

Bobby Rahal, Chief Executive Officer & Team Principal

"This is a pleasing result for us after a difficult season so far. In particular today was a reflection of the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes back at the factory and in the wind tunnel. I am also pleased to see that the processes and communications within the team are working well. Of course I'm delighted for Eddie but Pedro did a good job today after having precious little track time during Thursday's Free Practice sessions. We will build from this."

-Jaguar