[jag-news] [F1] Jaguar Racing disappointed after Hungaroring Qualifying

["Jag-lovers News" <owner-jag-news@jag-lovers.org>]

18 August 2001 

Weather: Very hot, sunny, dry, air temperature 30 degrees, track temperature
41 degrees

A disappointing Qualifying session for Jaguar Racing which saw Pedro de la
Rosa finish in thirteenth position on the grid and Eddie Irvine one place
behind in fourteenth position. Although generally happy with the way the car
handled, both drivers were disappointed with the pace compared to the
feedback gained during the Free Practice sessions. The Jaguar R2 handled well
but finished outside the team's top ten expectations. Tomorrow's 77-lap race
will certainly be a challenging one for the Jaguar Racing team as overtaking
is particularly difficult at this circuit. Nevertheless the team is prepared
for the challenge and will have to rely upon clever strategy and retirements
to maximise their chances of scoring points. 

Pedro de la Rosa
Position: 13th 
Best time: 1.16.543 
Chassis: R2-07 
T-Car chassis: R2-06

"The car felt well-balanced throughout the session. We didn't make any
changes to the car and each run was focused on pushing the limit further. I'm
not, however, entirely pleased because I expected to be further up the grid.
We run with maximum wing levels today but I expected a little more speed if
I'm honest. On my last run I locked-up coming into the second corner but I
question how much time I would have gained anyway. I don't think there was
any more to be extracted from the car today and while the new aero package
has helped us with downforce, I am confused as to why we are not further up
the grid. Life will be far from easy tomorrow and there's no option but to
drive hard and hope for the best."

Eddie Irvine
Position: 14th 
Best time: 1.16.607 
Chassis: R2-04

"I'm obviously disappointed and at a loss to understand why I've qualified in
14th place. I was expecting to be higher, maybe towards the top ten, but
overdriving the car has cost me some places. We worked on several set-ups in
the run up to qualifying and I'm not sure if we could have got more from
set-up. I was trying very hard indeed to the extent that I almost lost it
completely a couple of times - once in particular through the last chicane
when I was literally sideways through it. We really shouldn't be this slow
and combined with a few mistakes I made, we will suffer tomorrow in that our
race is uphill from here. It's made all the harder to understand given the
times we achieved this morning with the fuel levels on-board. This circuit is
renowned for being an overtaking nightmare and I fear we're in for a very
hard time tomorrow." 

Bobby Rahal, Chief Executive Officer & Team Principal

"Very disappointing. I expected both cars to at least finish within or very
close to the top ten and I'm surprised at not doing so. Pedro did a very good
job but Eddie made some uncharacteristic mistakes that cost him places today.
We have an awful lot to do if we want to score points tomorrow and most of
that depends on those in front of us dropping out. Our race pace is always
better than qualifying but that will be very hard to exploit during this race
because of the overtaking difficulties at this track. Nonetheless, we will
focus our efforts on strategy and hope for some consolation to what has been
a disappointing beginning to the race weekend."
 



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