Troubled Day for Jaguar Drivers

Jaguar drivers Pedro de la Rosa an Eddie Irvine endured a tough first day at the Monaco Grand Prix, both causing heavy damage to their cars during the session.

Spaniard de la Rosa lost control of his car right after the swimming pool complex, crashing heavily against the barriers during the morning session. The Jaguar mechanics were forced to work hard to fix the R3 for de la Rosa to be able to drive in the afternoon.

The car was ready and the Spanish driver could complete a total of 18 laps on his way to a disappointing 18th quickest time.

"A slippery track in the morning session put an end to my free practice session lap six," said de la Rosa. "I made a mistake coming out of the chicane after the swimming pool and in Monaco you don't get away with mistakes.

"The mechanics did a good job of fixing the car so that I could come back out for the afternoon session. During the session we ran our normal programme to work on set-up and tyres."

Ulsterman Irvine also crashed his Jaguar today, the veteran spinning at the Massanet corner. Irvine, who finished as 20th fastest, was glad to escape injury.

"Not the free practice that I had envisaged," admitted Irvine. "The track was not as grippy as I would have liked and unfortunately oil on the track in the second session sent me into the armco barriers at Massanet. Monaco is unforgiving and I was happy to come away unscathed."