Testing time for Eddie’s EJ13

After a winter of turmoil, not only has the future of Formula One racing been secured, but the future of smaller teams has also been considerably safeguarded. As yet, however, Jordan has no title sponsor and the second driver’s seat is still vacant. Declan Colley reports

THE CAR is carbon black and the only logo on it is the "Jordan" insignia on the nose. It broke cover at Silverstone last Tuesday and already Giancarlo Fisichella is saying he cannot wait to drive it in anger at its first official test in Barcelona next Monday.

The Silverstone outing was, in F1 parlance, a "shakedown" for the EJ13 and aimed simply at ensuring all the car's vital electronic and mechanical systems were operational prior to its first serious on-track work at the Circuit de Catalunya next week. But the absence of any sponsorship logos of any description and the fact that Fisichella alone will carry out the initial testing work indicates some of the current difficulties facing Eddie Jordan and his pared-down team as they face into the 2003 season.

This is a year in which, as one insider puts it, Jordan has to "re-establish credibility" not only as a racing team but as a vehicle for sponsors. The much-publicised loss of title sponsor DHL and its parent company and ancillary sponsor Deutsche Post at the end of last season appeared to be a mortal blow for the team at a time of worldwide business contraction and Grand Prix turmoil, with two teams going to the wall in the last 12 months.

It is not an easy time in F1 and the likes of Jordan and Minardi have been fighting a rearguard action against the money-might of Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and so on, simply to stay alive. It is common currency, so to speak, that Eddie Jordan had to dip into his own personal fortune to keep the team alive, but the strange thing is that despite the team's travails, they have rarely been more optimistic coming into a new season.

Gary Anderson, returned to his role as chief of technical affairs at Jordan, was reported to be positively animated at Silverstone on Tuesday and had "a spring in his step" which hadn't been seen for years.

Whatever optimism there is for the EJ13, there are still a lot of question marks about the team for the coming year not least of which concerns the sponsorship. With upwards of £50m necessary to run an F1 team for the season £12m of that going to Cosworth for engine supplies, a lack of sponsorship is no laughing matter.

Jordan himself has promised to "pull a major one out of the bag" before the car is officially launched on February 6 at Ford Europe's Brentwood facility in Essex, but there are a number issues still to be resolved before the team takes to the grid at Albert Park in Melbourne.

The first involves the level of sponsorship that will come from long-term backers Benson and Hedges and the second concerns the identity of the driver who will pilot the second Jordan.

Sources close to the team have revealed that B and H parent company, the Gallagher Group, have not yet inked any deal with Jordan and one of the main reasons they have not done so is that they are very anxious for promotional purposes to have a British/Irish driver in that second seat. Gallaghers are pushing hard for Eddie Irvine to be given that role and, it is understood, there is considerable support within the team particularly from Anderson to get Irvine into the car. Equally, however, there is a school of thought within Jordan that is actively politicking to have the Irishman taken out of the equation.

Part of the problem is that Jordan himself maintains that if Gallaghers want Irvine, they can pay his wages, but this is a pill the tobacco company are not prepared to swallow, on the basis that as a secondary sponsor, paying salaries is not their business. The fact they have not yet signed a deal indicates the level of hardball being played.

IRVINE'S wage demands have been considerably modified from what he was being paid at Jaguar ($18m over three years) and at this point in his career Irvine does not need the spondulicks. Equally, he does not want to retire yet and would love to round off his career with Jordan.

However, Eddie's "motormouth" characteristic is feared by many, who believe that if things are not going as well as is anticipated, he will round on the team publicly and cause grave embarrassment. That said, it would be easy in contractual terms to put a muzzle on Irvine and if that is the case then there is a definite argument to be made in favour of giving him the drive.

He is, after three years at Jaguar, intimate with the Cosworth engine, and he is also respected as a test driver and a good man to sort a car. His third place finish at Monza last year in a truly awful Jaguar also testified that, on his day, he is a very capable driver.

"Heads have been hanging low at Jordan in recent years," one insider said this week.

"The staff cuts and the lack of results have had a bad effect on morale, so everyone knows that they have to re-establish their credibility this year and a lot of people believe a pairing of Irvine and Fisichella can help achieve that.

"Irvine's salary requirements are only a fraction of what he was getting at Jaguar, so that should not be an insurmountable problem, but whoever they decide to sign, the main thing is that everyone understands that realism is where it is at this year.

"There has to be financial reality and there has to be reasonable expectations of what can be achieved. I've seen the new car and it looks great and with a new, more powerful and lighter engine in the back, then they can score points on a regular basis. If they do that they will restore credibility and attract sponsors," the source said.

It is understood that Jordan actually came within a whisker of losing theB and H deal for a variety of reasons, not least a perceived wisdom in some quarters that they would stay with the team because their ability to find promotional outlets is so narrow these days.

The deal was not lost, however, and will be inked in the near future, but it remains to be seen what rabbit Eddie Jordan will pull out of the hat in terms of a title sponsor.