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Jordan’s team race to French Grand Prix title

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Mark Jones

DUBLIN — Eddie Jordan’s dream of challenging Formula One’s established order is fast becoming a reality after the Irishman’s team won the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours at the weekend. Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove an impeccable race to give Jordan his second victory following on last year’s breakthrough in Belgium.

Jordan was quick to pay tribute to Frentzen, who had been injured in a 140 miles-per-hour crash just a fortnight ago.

“He was fantastic, to come to the race without testing, it’s probably one of the best turnarounds I’ve seen from a driver,” Jordan said.

The win, in a rain affected race, moves the German up to fourth place in the drivers’ championship, while Jordan now lie third in the constructors’ championship behind Ferrari and McLaren.

The victorious Frentzen also pointed out that his team’s tactics had a major part to play in his second Grand Prix success. Gambling on just one pit stop, he was able to stay on the circuit in the closing laps as his nearest rivals, Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello, were forced to pit for extra fuel.

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“When I went into the pits, it was raining heavily and I noticed that the fueling guys were taking a lot of time,” Jordan said. “The car felt very heavy, but luckily the safety car came out and I was able to talk to the team on the radio and they told my what the strategy was.

“We made a very good decision on the fuel. It was a risk because it could’ve dried out. That’s why on a few occasions you saw that Heinz-Harald didn’t over-fight the situation. He let the flow of the race dictate and we just probably had a half liter of fuel left at the end.”

There was one negative aspect of the race for Jordan, however. It came when Frentzen’s teammate, Damon Hill, suggested he might quit the sport before next week’s British Grand Prix.

“There’s a possibility that might be my last race,” said Hill, who was struck by Pedro De La Rosa’s Arrows in the pits.

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