Jordan Encouraged by Race Pace Despite Retirements

The Jordan team were encouraged by their improved race pace despite failing to finish the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

"A character-building day for Jordan, you might say," said James Robinson, head of race and test engineering, at the end of the day.

"In the race we had two technical problems with hydraulics which finally put both cars out. It's good that we showed some increased pace this weekend but obviously we need to guarantee we can get two cars to the end of the race before we can think about a points finishing position."

Italian Giorgio Pantano retired from the race on lap 54, while teammate Nick Heidfeld's event came to an end on lap 34. The German was also pleased with the pace of his Jordan despite his retirement.

"The positive thing is that we have been a lot quicker this race and the last one so we are definitely improving," said Heidfeld. "But we don't only have to improve lap times, we also have to improve reliability at the same time. If we carry on improving at the current rate, I'm quite happy.

"Although not finishing is always frustrating, motivation will never be a problem because I enjoy driving so much. I'm looking forward to Monaco."