Eddie Irvine has hailed Jaguar's new R3 chassis as a step in the right direction following the launch of the troubled team's 2002 challenger in Milton Keynes yesterday.

Since leaving Ferrari in 1999, Irvine has suffered through two traumatic seasons with the Ford-owned team, battling with on-track under-performance as well as intra-team squabbling and boardroom battles.

After a dismal debut season in 2000, last year's R2 was supposed to be the car that earned the much-hyped team some respectability. Aside from a surprise third-place, podium finish in Monaco, the Irishman walked away from the 2001 campaign with little to show for his efforts or much in the way of repayment of the reputed $12 million a year Ford pay him as lead driver at Jaguar Racing.

Speaking at yesterday's launch however, Irvine insisted the new R3 appeared a far more encouraging prospect than last year's intractable R2.

"In all the areas you need, this car is better," he said. "The aerodynamics are better and it is lighter than last year's car. It's always difficult to say how well we are going to go, because you have to look at what everyone else is doing.

"I think we have to move up the grid this year, or there's no point in turning up for work," he added.

"You can say whatever you like now, but it won't really matter until you start qualifying and racing. You can get a feeling of what the car is like in testing, but you don't really know until you go up against everyone else."

Team boss and former three-time world champion Niki Lauda agreed with Irvine saying Jaguar designers had specifically targeted aerodynamic efficiency as the key to a successful 2002 campaign.

"I'm confident we've made a real step forward," said the Austrian. "The Jaguar R3 has been conceived with the aim of achieving outstanding aerodynamic efficiency. We have not compromised the more traditional race car attributes of low weight, low centre of gravity and good torsional stiffness. Its distinctive high-nose shape is the result of considerable wind-tunnel research and the innovative use of laminates and construction methods."

The lack of an in-house wind tunnel in which to test and develop its car has in the past been blamed for Jaguar's poor performance.Lauda said the opening of Jaguar's own wind tunnel in the near future should allow the team to remain competitive throughout the eight-month season.

"Aerodynamically, the R3 will generate more downforce than the R2 and exhibit improved sensitivity characteristics," he said. "And, as soon as we get our new wind tunnel going from next month, we will be able to begin a programme that will see us improving throughout the year."

The crunch will come for both Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa next week when the testing ban which has been in force since the close of the 2001 season comes to an end.

The Jaguar pairing, along with the bulk of the chief new-season rivals, will over the weekend head to Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. Only then will the hype of a legion of launches be left behind.

McLaren yesterday announced it will launch its 2002 car, the MP4/17, at the Circuit de Catalunya on Saturday, 19th January, after taking part in next week's test. It will be the first public outing for McLaren new boy Kimi Raikkonen, who takes over from Mika Hakkinen as team-mate to David Coulthard this year.