Jaguar Encouraged Despite Point-Less Race

The Jaguar team received a boost of morale at this weekend's French Grand Prix, and were encouraged despite a point-less race on Sunday.

Irishman Eddie Irvine was the strongest man from the Milton Keynes team this weekend, qualifying in a promising ninth place and running close to the points during the race until his rear wing came loose when travelling at high speed on lap 53.

Irvine, the most veteran driver of the current field, spun off the track and came to a stop on the gravel.

Despite the disappointment, however, Irvine and his team were encouraged by the improved pace of the revised R3B chassis.

"That probably looked a lot more spectacular than it actually felt from inside the car," said Irvine. "All I remember feeling is that the rear of the car just snapped at what must have been around 310kph. Luckily, it happened at the best place to have a failure on this circuit and the car simply slid into the gravel.

"Nevertheless, we have demonstrated some encouraging signs of turnaround this weekend and despite the fact that we still have some issues to address, we are moving in the right direction.

"The car feels more like a race car now and even though we have been somewhat flattered by the Michelins here, our race pace was improved relative to our immediate competition."

Jaguar said that they were still unsure about the cause of the wing failure, but team boss Niki Lauda claimed an investigation would be carried out before next week's German Grand Prix.

Irvine's teammate Pedro de la Rosa, who in qualifying endured a torrid time with his car breaking down twice, went on to finish the race in ninth position.