Irvine Urges Jaguar to Hire New Test Driver

Eddie Irvine has urged the Jaguar Racing team to find a new test driver following the recent departure of South African Tomas Scheckter from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Scheckter, who became the team's only test driver following the promotion of Pedro de la Rosa to a racing seat replacing Luciano Burti, was fired last weekend after pleading guilty to kerb crawling (soliciting a prostitute). Now Irvine has warned Jaguar that he could be affected by the increased amount of work, and has asked the team to quickly find a replacement for Scheckter.

"It's important that we get a replacement test driver, because I'm going to be burnt out," Irvine said on Motorsport News. "We know you can't test and race all the time, it detracts from your performance.

"I don't know if there is anyone else out there, but whoever we get, we need to get them started. The sooner you start working with them, the faster they can start giving you good information."

Formula Three drivers Andrea Lotterer and James Courtney have been linked with the test seat, as well as former Grand Prix driver Jan Magnussen, who recently admitted he was talking to some teams in order to return to Formula One next season.