Irish drivers lead Melbourne Formula 1 pack

By Mark Jones

It was a one-two for Ireland at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.

Eddie Irvine became only the second Irish driver in history to taste Formula One success, while second was the Jordan Grand Prix team, owned by Irishman Eddie Jordan.

Irvine equaled John Watson’s feat of 1983 when he guided his Ferrari to glory in the first race of the championship season.

Driving in his 82nd grand Prix and his 50th for Ferrari, Irvine has been used to seeing his teammate Michael Schumacher on the podium, but this time Schumacher was a lap behind in eighth place.

"I didn’t really think I’d win here, so I didn’t have a bet on myself," Irvine said.

Meanwhile, Jordan Grand Prix started season with a second-place finish in Melbourne. It is Jordan Grand Prix best season opening finish since team owner Eddie Jordan entered Formula One in 1991.

From Newtownards in Northern Ireland, 31-year-old Irvine now lives in Dublin and in his six year career in Formula One has developed a reputation for risky, aggressive driving. Great talent, they said, but not enough composure on the big day.

However, in a race characterized by mechanical failures and retirements, Irvine found himself trailing reigning world champion Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. But Coulthard was forced out on lap 15 and then Hakkinen slowed with throttle problems giving Irvine his chance.

"It was fantastic to do it with Ferrari, especially because it’s come after such a long time," he said. "To see all the Irish flags out there was phenomenal."

It was a good occasion for Irish racing in general as Heinz Harald Frentzen in the Jordan came through to take second place. "I believe we have a champion here," said team owner Eddie Jordan of Frentzen. "It was great, our best ever start to the world championship."

Jordan Grand Prix driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen made a dream debut with Jordan, finishing second and coming within an ace of winning the Australian Grand Prix. A late charge took him within one second of Irvine, as the Ulsterman from Coleraine crossed the finish line.

"I am very happy for myself and everyone at Jordan," Frentzen said. "Second is a great result."

And he was full of praise for the former Jordan driver who galloped to victory. "I have never seen Eddie drive as strongly as he did today," he said. "He was going really fast and I tried to keep up with him but it was difficult to beat him today. I thought he was going to make a second stop because he was on soft tires but he just kept going, I thought we could finish in the points so I just decided to drive my own race and to finish second is an excellent way to start the [1999 F1] season."

"This is a momentous occasion for Irish motorsport," said an emotional Eddie Jordan as the other top five finishers were previous Jordan drivers.

Killiney, Co. Dublin, resident Damon Hill is the Jordan teams other driver. His Australian Grand Prix lasted little more than a few hundred yards. He was pushed into the sand after making a storming blast off the grid at the re-start, capping a disastrous day which started with just two laps in the morning warm-up.

"I got an absolutely brilliant start and made up two places to get right on Heinz-Harald’s tail at the start, having got the best of Ralf Schumacher and Fisichella," Hill said. "I had no laps on the warm-up. These guys were up to speed and I had not done a lap all day. One car got past me and then someone else tried to give it a go and go for a lap that wasn’t there. He got his wheel inside mine and we collided. I had nowhere to go and that was the end of my race."

Hill, twice a winner in Australia, in 1995 and 1996, had a bad start to the day with clutch problems in his race car and then crashing the spare on his third lap. It was not a good start to the year for the ex-champion because he was outqualified by his new team-mate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen who managed to get his Jordan fifth on the grid while he started ninth.

A feature article on the Jordan Grand Prix appears on Page 109 of this Echo.

Results

1. Eddie Irvine (Scuderia-Ferran) 57 laps; 2. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan-Mugen Honda) + 1.0 seconds; 3. Ralf Schumacher (Williams-Supertec) + 7.0 seconds; 4. Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton-Playlife) +33.4 seconds; 5. Rubens Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) + 54.6 seconds; 6. Pedro de la Rosa (Arrows-TWR) + 84.3 seconds; 7. Takagi (Arrows-TWR) + 86.2 seconds; 8. Michael Schumacher (Scuderia-Ferrari) + 1 lap.

Standings

Standings after the first 1999 F1 Races (race 1 of 16):

1. Scuderia-Ferrari, 10 points; 2. Jordan-Mugen Honda, 6 points; 3. Williams-Supertec, 4 points; 4. Benetton-Playlife, 3 points; 5. Stewart-Ford, 2 points; 6. Arrows-TWR, 1 point.