Karthikeyan Debuts with Jordan at Silverstone

The Jordan Grand Prix team kicked off today a three-day test of their new car at the Silverstone circuit.

Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro had already shaken down the EJ15 on Monday and Tuesday, and today he was joined by teammate Narain Karthikeyan, who tested the new car for the first time.

Including mileage at the shakedown both drivers have now completed over 300km of test mileage, with almost 700km of trouble-free running for the EJ15.

"It went very well, we did lots of distance and I'm happy with the test so far," said Karthikeyan at the end of the day. "We had no major problems, and achieved my aim which was to complete 300km. Last time I drove a single-seater car was in November and the first thing I've driven on the circuit since then is a Formula One car.

"So it was very quick and very exciting this morning but I now I'm getting used to it and it's time to get on with the work."

Jordan's sporting director Trevor Carlin, was also pleased with the car's performance.

"The car has run faultlessly today," he said. "We clocked up over 400km in total, with Tiago starting off the day and handing over to Narain later on. It's positive that we've had good reliability and were able to cover plenty of mileage, and we are very impressed with how quickly both drivers have got back into the groove of driving racing cars after a couple of months out of them.

"They are both comfortable with the EJ15 and they are being sensible and not pushing to the limit at this stage. To be honest I think they are both enjoying it immensely! All credit to Jordan's factory staff and to Toyota for such a good reliability record on our first full day of testing."