Jordan Unveil New Car

Jordan Grand Prix unveiled their new car for the upcoming season on Tuesday at their Silverstone base, becoming the second team to officially present their 2001 challenger after Jaguar.

In an event that was broadcasted live on the Internet, eight members of the 'team behind the team' unveiled the new Jordan-Honda EJ11.

In an effort to reward the people behind the scenes, John Iley (head of aerodynamics), John McQuilliam (joint chief designer), Marian Hinson (junior aerodynamicist), Alan Richardson (tool department worker), Phil Howell (mechanic), Dawn Simpson (PA to the marketing department), Mark Ewin (vehicle dynamics) and Adrian Smith (model shop manager) were in charge of presenting the new car to the world.

Speaking at the launch at the team's Silverstone base, team boss Eddie Jordan admitted that he will spend the funds needed to help his team, who will be powered by a Honda works engine this year, to the top of the sport.

Jordan said: "This year we are going to devote a lot more human resources and finance to make sure that we are doing the job on the test track.

"A year ago I would not have believed it if I was told that we would get the opportunity to have a deal like we have with Honda. If we blow this we can't blame anyone but ourselves.

"We have learnt lessons from last year and we know we made mistakes. We are going to work harder than ever to put them right but we will still have fun."

Jordan believes that the Honda deal can challenge the likes of McLaren and Ferrari for top honours and that the additions made to his team - including Eghbal Hamidy, whose capture was announced at the launch - makes the current Jordan line-up the most committed in it's history.

Jordan added: "This is the realisation of the dream and represents total commitment on our part to win the world championship.

"Honda have been a success story in Formula One and we have been given the job to get them to the top, we have added 50 members of staff to make sure we can cope with the work load and it will be the most committed Jordan team we have ever fielded."

After a very dissapointing 2000 season, the Jordan drivers expect the EJ11 with the new Honda engine will take them back to where they were in 1999, when they finished in third position in the Constructors' Championship.

"I strongly believe Jordan is the team of the future," said Heinz-Harald Frentzen. "Our goal is to continue where we finished off in 1999.

"When we get the car reliable, there's no reason to think we can't be successful again. "Hopefully we've improved the car in all areas â€" the engine, the mechanicals and in the wind-tunnel â€" and hopefully we can attack right from the beginning."

Teammate Jarno Trulli, who will complete his second season with the team, admitted he wants to leave the past behind and start from scratch without any goals for the upcoming season.

"I don't want to set targets anymore," Trulli said, "but we proved last year that we could sometimes do a good job.

"This year we have a better engine. I think we should qualify on the front row several times and be closer to the Ferraris and McLarens than we were last year. It's hard, but it's possible."