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Editor/Photographer : Mark Charles

May 29 2004

EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX – SATURDAY QUALIFYING

Weather: Dry and Sunny Track Temp: 41 degrees Air temp: 19 degrees

It was a dry and sunny day at the Nurburgring in Germany as Jaguar Racing drivers Mark Webber (27) and Christian Klien (21) took to the track to qualify in fourteenth and twelfth respectively. Both drivers completed successfully this morning’s practice sessions, working on tyres and balance. The R5 was set-up and well prepared in time for this afternoon’s qualifying session and despite a one second penalty for Mark Webber for not slowing down under a yellow flag yesterday both cars will be starting tomorrow’s race from a competitive position.

Mark Webber Position: 14th
Best time: 1:31.797 (Including 1 second penalty) Chassis: R5- 04
After having a good day yesterday I heard from the FIA Stewards last night that I had been given a one second penalty on my qualifying time from today as a result of not braking under a yellow flag. We have to respect these rules as they exist for safety reasons but of course it is frustrating for all of us. Today though we have had a productive day on track as I spent this morning in the two practice sessions working on tyre preparation and also on qualifying and race set-up. The R5 is feeling pretty good around here and I completed twenty three laps this morning so I have had a good amount of running time. The car was well prepared going into the qualifying session this afternoon and I was pleased to have done a time of 1:30.797. I made a minor error on the last corner but it didn’t cost me much time. Even with my one second penalty I will not be starting from the back of the grid. I finished with points here last year and I excited about getting back out on track tomorrow and fighting for some more.

Christian Klien Position: 12th
Best time: 1:31.431 Chassis: R5- 01
I spent this morning working on my balance on the R5 and preparation for qualifying. The car feels well balanced for me now and I am enjoying driving it. I completed over thirty laps this morning which was really good for us and we managed to work through our programme successfully. My times were getting quicker as I settled into the car and track. Qualifying this afternoon was in two parts, I went well in the first session but the track changes a lot in a short time and I could feel the difference when I went out for the second time. My time was not quite as fast but I am still happy with where I am on the grid for tomorrow’s race . The race should be interesting and I will be doing what I can to move up the grid in search of my first points.

Dr Mark Gillan

Head of Vehicle Performance
We have been working hard this morning preparing our cars and the work seems to be paying off. I am satisfied with Christian and Mark’s position of twelfth and fourteen respectively and given our strategy for tomorrow we should be in for an interesting race. The balance of the R5 around here has been good and both of the cars are set-up well. We were of course not happy when we heard about Mark’s one second penalty for setting a fastest sector time under a yellow flag but that’s the rules and we respect them. Christian spent this morning on set-up and steadily improving his pace and I am keen to see how he gets on tomorrow. Both drivers know this track well so they will be giving it their all and racing for points. The team over the last couple of weeks has been working incredibly hard in preparation for the back-to-back races so we are looking for it to pay off.