Promising Return for Zonta in Germany

Ricardo Zonta, the man who expects to see out the season for Jordan after the controversial departure of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, made a promising return to racing setting the 13th quickest time in free practice at Hockenheim on Friday.

Frentzen's well publicised sacking has left Zonta with the task of joining Jarno Trulli as Jordan's top drivers half way through the Formula One season. But the Brazilian offered his team an encouraging start with a solid drive where his concentration was occupied mainly by tyre and brake testing on Friday.

"I was quite easy on the brakes for the tyre testing as we had some braking problems during the first session in the morning," Zonta said. "The grip was good with new tyres although on the first run I was braking too early into the corners.

"My second run was better as I was more confident on the brakes, although I think I could have improved further. We made various changes to the car and have definitely made progress. My 13th position is not great but positions are not so important on a Friday."

Teammate Jarno Trulli was ninth quickest after some brake problems hampered his progress, but the Italian admitted he was happy and confident for qualifying.

"We spent the two sessions working on car set-up for a race distance and trying to find the optimum balance," Trulli said. "I ran with the two different tyre options that Bridgestone has brought for this race and also checked brake performance.

"We had a few problems with the brakes and need to look at the data to find out what the exact problem is, but I am generally happy with the car and looking forward to qualifying."