After a frantic start of the year for Jordan Grand Prix, with its acquisition by Midland Group, a privately owned trading and investment-holding organisation led by Russian-born Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider and a car and driver line-up presentation on Red Square in Moscow on 25th February; the team arrives in Melbourne with fresh expectations and hopes for the first race of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship.
With Eddie Jordan stepping down from his role has Chief Executive, the management of the team has undergone key changes. Dr Colin Kolles has been appointed Managing Director of Jordan Grand Prix. His first contact with motorsport was through Rally Racing twenty years ago. Since 2000, he entered the F3 Euro Series with his own team and then operated Germany’s most successful F3 teams.
At his side, newly appointed Sporting Director, Trevor Carlin has a long background in motorsport as well, starting his racing career in 1980 as a junior mechanic working on Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000. Since then, he successfully managed various British F3 teams and in 1998, he started his own team Carlin Motorsport with Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan finishing twice on the podium at the end of the season. To complete the list, Adrian Burgess will act as Sporting Manager, Ricky Taylor as Chief Mechanic, Christian Geistdoerfer as Marketing Director and Salvatore Cuccu as Sponsorship Manager. The team has also appointed Paul Monaghan as Chief Engineer with Bradley Joyce joining as race engineer. Annouck Heinrichs has taken the role of Press Officer and will be the point of contact for all media enquiries.
Not only is the management new but also the two race drivers: Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro. At the age of 28, Narain Karthikeyan will be the first Indian ever to drive in the FIA Formula One World Championship. After winning the Formula Asia Championship in 1996 with a host of records and being the only Indian and Asian driver to win this Championship, he entered the British Formula 3 Championship. Since 2002, he started racing in Formula Nissan World Series as well as in the FIA GT Championship. Tiago Monteiro also 28, from Oporto, Portugal, started his career in the Porsche Carrera Cup in 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he entered the French F3 Championship where he raced very successfully. After one season in Champ Car World Series, he decided to return to Europe and race in the Nissan World Series where he finished second in the Championship with five race wins with Carlin Motorsport. He was awarded Rookie of the Year.
During the presentation in Moscow, the team was also pleased to announce Robert Doornbos as official third and reserve driver. Doornbos was the team's official test driver for the last three races of 2004 and will continue his work during Friday test and practice sessions at Grands Prix.
During the winter, Jordan Grand Prix became the first team to secure a customer engine deal with Toyota and 2005 marks Bridgestone's seventh season as tyre supplier to the Silverstone-based team.
Trevor Carlin, Sporting Director: "I am very excited to be here. We only had five weeks to prepare for this race so everyone at the Jordan factory has done a fantastic job to get the cars ready. Hopefully we can be reliable, get both cars to the end of the race, maybe have a bit of luck and finish close to the top ten. That is the best we can hope for."
Narain Karthikeyan: "This is my first visit of any kind to Australia. So far the circuit looks quite dirty but I think it is not too difficult to learn and it is going to be ok. I am looking forward to it. It is a steep learning curve as a rookie but I am up to the challenge and I will give my best shot."
Tiago Monteiro: "I was here last year and I was obviously dreaming of being here as an official driver but definitely not expecting it, so it is great to be back in that dream position and have my name on the board above the garage in the pit lane. It makes a big difference. So far everything has been great. We have been doing interesting PR activities, met a lot of different people and been around the track. It looks interesting, dirty and bumpy but we will have to deal with that and I cannot wait to be in the car. I have been here since Monday and although I have enjoyed spending time in the city, I just cannot wait to drive the car. That's what I'm here to do and the moment that I get behind the wheel can't come soon enough!"
Robert Doornbos: "I am really happy to be part of the Jordan Team as I was last year. Obviously Friday is the most important day for my job. I look forward to helping the team and do the best job I can. It is a new circuit for me but that was also the case in the last three Grands Prix last year. I can find my way very quickly on a new circuit and I cannot wait to get back in the car. I am really excited."
