Justin Hynes was in London to hear Eddie Jordan sing the praises of Irish citizen Ralph Firman.

MOTOR SPORT: Eddie |Jordan  yesterday said that new signing Ralph Firman was just the driver his team needs to dig itself out of the troubles it has experienced in the last year. Speaking at the official presentation of Firman to the media in London, Jordan said that while Firman has no Formula One track record, the 27-year-old's six years of racing in Japan were a huge bonus to Jordan.

"Ralph has had some hard times in the past in Japan, but he has proven that when the going gets tough he is prepared to get in there and fight. And that's what Jordan needs now, a fighter."

Firman began his Japanese racing career with the Nova team in Formula Nippon and suffered through several difficult seasons before switching to the Nakajima team with whom he won the series title last year. It is the Irish driver's experience of hard times that Jordan believes will give Firman an edge in his first season in Formula One.

"The one fantastic attribute that Ralph has is that he has suffered serious pain. A lot of the young up-and-coming guys have had success, success, success, and they don't realise what it's like to have difficult times. They haven't been in the position, in the heat of the moment, in Melbourne, of being in a car and having Giancarlo Fisichella beside you and suddenly you're a second slower than him. If that was to happen to Ralph, and I don't think it will, he will be able to mentally cope with that and he'll be able to analyse carefully how he would make his position better in the team. He's not going to be rolled over by the media, his team-mate, his circumstances, if it goes badly for him, because he has seen the bad sides."

Firman agreed with his new boss, saying that his long years in Japan had given him time to hone his skills. "Now I've got the opportunity, I am more mature and better prepared for the pressures in Formula One and everything around it. I'm very glad to have got the opportunity with Jordan and hopefully it will be a number of years. I don't think I'll have too many problems."

Jordan's championing of Firman spiralled into overdrive at yesterday's conference at the Dorchester Hotel, the team boss buoyed by the simultaneous announcement that tobacco company Benson & Hedges had renewed their partnership with the cash-strapped team and had reconfirmed its position as title sponsor for 2003 after a year out last season when logistics company DHL bore the brunt of the team's costs. The presence of a British driver was key to B&H reaffirming their support of Jordan and Firman's dual nationality - he has an Irish mother and British father - was enough to persuade the tobacco company to re-enter the Formula One fray.

Jordan's signing of Firman was not unilaterally popular within the offices of the title sponsor, however, with Eddie Irvine remaining a preferred choice until late in the negotiation proceedings. Yesterday, though Jordan dismissed suggestions that opting for Irvine would have been a better business and racing decision.

Firman is already familiar with many of Formula One's most touted talents, having raced against such drivers as Juan Pablo Montoya in British Formula Ford in the mid-1990s. He remains undaunted by Montoya's progress.

"He's a great driver and a nice character," he said. "But I beat him before and I think I can do it again."

He will first, however, have to assess whether his Jordan Ford EJ13 is up to the task. So far he is refusing to set targets. "You just have to go out and try your best every time you drive, and if you do the best you can then that's all you can do. But targets are not really settable. You don't know until the first race, because you don't know where you're going to be on the grid. You can only set a target then."

The first task will be the acclimatisation of testing in Valencia and Barcelona prior to departure for Melbourne.