A STRONG showing in tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix will consolidate the entry of Eddie Jordan's team into the first division of Formula One and, with two cars in the top four in yesterday's free practice, the signs are promising.
For six seasons Eddie Jordan has struggled to be the best of the rest - the fifth team in the Grand Prix hierarchy - but the step from competitor to contender proved difficult: "In the early days we did not realise just how much work had to be done during the season. We managed to build a competitive car in the past but we simply did not have the engineering resources to continually update and improve the car during the season," said Jordan.
After a hesitant start this season in Australia, Jordan have been consistently the next cars behind Williams and Ferarri in each of the last four races. Today's practice session will be vital for the team, particularly after Jean Alesi was fastest yesterday in his improved Benetton.
Jordan must maintain superiority over Benetton and McLaren to demolish the 10 year domination of Formula One by Williams, Ferrari, Benetton and McLaren. Yesterday, commercial director of Benson and Hedges involvement with Jordan, Dubliner David Marron, reflected on the team's most competitive spell in its history: "You can feel it now. The team are knocking on the door and sooner or later it's going to open," he said referring to a possible first Grand Prix victory for Jordan.
Ralf Schumacher was marginally the quicker of the Jordans at the circuit set in the hills above Barcelona: "The car is improved since we tested here and there were no big problems," said the fresh faced 21 year old: "I am more familiar with this circuit than I have been with the others so that makes things easier and gives me more confidence," he added.
Jordan designer Gary Anderson elaborated on the comprehensive upgrade to the Jordan 197 this weekend: "There's a lot of little things and one major item," said the confident Ulster engineer: "We have a complete new rear floor and a lot of aerodynamic changes as a result," he said.
Despite three podiums on the trot, there continues to be talk in the paddock of Eddie Irvine's drive at Ferrari being under threat. Team manager Jean Todt dismissed this emphatically: "It's total rubbish. They don't know what they are talking about."
Irvine was equally dismissive but was concerned about his car's handling at a circuit where he has spent four days in the last month testing. He was 10th fastest - three places behind team mate Michael Schumacher yesterday: "Track conditions are a lot different to last week. My car is now oversteering everywhere, probably due to the high track temperatures. In the race I will be aiming for one or two points as it will be difficult to get on the podium," said the Conlig, Co Down driver.
