Jaguar can beat Jordan, claims Herbert

Both Jaguar-Cosworths will be fitted with untried engine modifications today in practice in a bid to end the problem that that plagued the team in Melbourne two weeks ago.

If the cars stay reliable the British racer who won last year's European Grand Prix believes they could nudge Jordan off the third row of the grid.

"We showed in the winter we can beat the Jordans and be in the top six," said Herbert on the eve of first practice in Interlagos.

"Even with the problems we had Eddie [Irvine] was only a couple of tenths away from fifth in Melbourne. Half a second or a second would be difficult to find but a couple of tenths are much easier and that's all the gap is."

But both Jaguar drivers head into practice today hoping untested development parts flown in from England, following testing at Silverstone last week will prove the answer to recurring reliability concerns.

"Hopefully that will push us in the right direction, fixing the issues that we had in Melbourne," said Herbert.

The oil surge problems in the Cosworth CR-2 saw Herbert's car sidelined on five different occasions in Melbourne while Irvine was only affected once.

"There is nothing wrong with the engine or the internals it is just the way things work."

"We are not the only team that has had problems. McLaren are in trouble as well so we are in good company.

"It's easy to say we have cured our problems but we have got to go out on the track and prove over Friday, Saturday and Sunday that we have fixed them."

"We've got a lot of work to do but picking up some points at this time of the season will be easier than it will be in four races time when the other teams have got their act together."