Jordan Confident Sato Will Succeed

Team chief Eddie Jordan can take some comfort from losing fifth place in the Constructors' Championship to fierce Honda rivals British American Racing with the signing of Japanese driver Takuma Sato.

Both the Jordan team and BAR finished on 17 points, but the latter sneaked fifth place through achieving two more podium finishes than their rivals. But Jordan have signed former BAR development driver Sato as a racer for them next season and they are delighted with the qualities they believe he will bring to the grid next season.

"The good thing is that he has probably the vital ingredient and that is speed and you will see he is very quick," said Jordan. "I could say he is going to be the next World Champion but please give the guy a chance to breath, it is not easy at the moment. We all see how difficult young drivers can have it.

"But he has lived on his own, he knows what it is like to travel around Europe, learning a new language commercially and technically, and you will be surprised how well he can talk to the engineers."

Sato has signed a two-year deal with Jordan and will race alongside Giancarlo Fisichella next season. It could be a major coup for the Silverstone-based team as Honda are expected to want to supply engines to just one team from 2003, and Sato could be valuable in any deal.

BAR's fifth place in the Championship is also, technically, still provisional with Jordan driver Jarno Trulli's disqualification from the United States Grand Prix still under appeal. If Trulli is re-instated under appeal, which is unlikely, then Jordan will jump up to fifth with two more points than BAR. The result of the appeal is expected soon.