Fisichella Win a Dream for Jordan

The former team boss, who did not attend the Formula One season-opener after selling up in January, revealed on Wednesday that he had a premonition last week that the Renault driver would win from pole position.

Back home after a weekend in the Middle East, Jordan said he sent a text message to the Italian via his manager Enrico Zanarini just as he was leaving Dubai last Thursday.

"I said 'Good luck for the season. I had a dream that you got pole position and won the race,'" he told Reuters. "And look what happened. It was quite bizarre. My only regret is that I wasn't able to get a bet on because I was out in this place in Oman and there was no signal for a phone."

Jordan said it was not the first time he had such a premonition about one of his former drivers.

Last year he had a similar dream about Italian Jarno Trulli, who left Jordan for Renault at the end of 2001, before the Monaco Grand Prix.

"The one with Trulli was a similar sort of feeling," he explained. "Street circuit, he got pole position and won. I had a very good bet on Trulli at Monaco last year."

Fabulous Year

Fisichella is a driver close to Jordan's heart, securing that team's last win in an crash-strewn Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 and driving for them in 1997 as well as in 2002 and 2003.

Sunday's success also owed much to the weather, with rain in qualifying shattering the hopes of Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher and both McLaren drivers, but Jordan saw Fisichella going from strength to strength.

"I don't want to be critical, but he is a Roman and Romans by nature need to be cared for and loved," he said.

"I think he's back with a team that can do that and of course he has the added carrot in that he has a top driver in (Spaniard Fernando) Alonso to push him. I think he'll have a fabulous year."

Jordan has sold his team to Russian-born Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider, who will rename it Midland next year, and although still in close contact with Formula One people had not yet seen the race.

He was optimistic that the season would be far closer than last year's Ferrari 'redwash', however.

"I think there were too many other things at play in Australia and it's too early to be complimentary or critical to the rules," he said. "As a season-opener, let's be honest, a lot of people were interested because Michael Schumacher didn't win it.

"If Michael had won it, irrespective of how close the race was, the doubters would have said 'Ah, its the same old thing again.' And it's not going to be."

Jordan came into Formula One in 1991 after running teams in junior series and last weekend was the first time in decades that the Irishman had not followed the race live.

"It actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be," he said.

"I just wanted to go through the motions that I didn't have to watch every Grand Prix. Of course I'm passionate about the sport and my concern was whether I was able to live without it. Now I know I can, but I don't want to."