Irvine in hunt for fifth place

Eddie Irvine believes Jaguar Racing could snatch fifth place in the World Championship if he can finish the final two races of the season in the points.

The 36-year-old is confident he can follow-up his unexpected third place in Italy a fortnight ago by grabbing more points glory this weekend.

Irvine reckons boss Niki Lauda’s pre-season target of fifth spot in the Manufacturers’ Championship is a possibility when just a few races ago it looked an impossible dream.

The Ulsterman’s podium finish in Monza lifted Jaguar from eighth to sixth in the standings – just three points adrift of Sauber – heading into Sunday’s United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

“Monza was unbelievable and I am certainly planning on taking some of that good feeling to Indy with me,” said Irvine, whose third spot behind the Ferraris was his first for 25 races.

“With only two races to go, I will be pulling the stops out to ensure that we push as hard as possible to secure our sixth place in the championship or maybe even grab fifth.

“I have no doubt that this race is going to be as tough as the last two, however, it’s about time our hard efforts were rewarded and let’s hope that we can generate the points that we now know we are capable of.

“The team has been given a real boost, and deservedly so. Since this circuit is similar to Monza, we go into this race encouraged by our recent performance.

“I managed fifth here in Indy last year and since then the car has changed completely so it will be a different race altogether.”

But Irvine, who will be 37 in November, is still giving no firm hint as to where or whether he will be racing in Formula One next season.

Irvine is nearing the end of his three-year £20million deal with Jaguar and has been linked with a return to Jordan, the team that gave him his grand prix breakthrough in 1993.

But his recent displays – he was also sixth in Belgium earlier this month - could yet see him remain with the Milton Keynes outfit with Lauda saying after Monza that he would wait until the end of the season before opening talks with the driver.

Lauda is more concerned about maintaining Jaguar’s recent encouraging displays especially as this weekend is a home race for parent company Ford.

“Monza was a fantastic weekend for us and securing third place has rejuvenated the team and is clearly just reward for the hard work that has been carried out over the season,” said the Austrian.

“Indianapolis, or ’The Brickyard’ as its known, is a similar circuit to Monza and Spa and there is no reason why we cannot be competitive there.

“Last year Eddie finished the race in fifth place and I’d say we are far better prepared for this race than we have been previously.”