F1: German GP Jordan preview

• Stephen M Baines
• Thu Jul 25 09:12:35 EDT 1996

Following an encouraging result at the British Grand Prix, where both
Rubens Barrichello and Martin Brundle finished in the points, the Benson
and Hedges Total Jordan Peugeot team now move on to Hockenheim for Round
10 of the 1996 Formula One World Championship, the German Grand Prix. Whilst
industries throughout Europe are beginning to wind down in preparation for
the annual break, the business of Formula One continues unabated throughout
the summer months. There is no rest for the mechanics who prepare the Jordan
cars for competition at each of the 16 races this season.

Nick Burrows is the `No 1' mechanic for Martin Brundle. The 38 year old, who
has been with Jordan since 1988, is leader of the three-strong team who work
exclusively on car No 12 His weekend begins when the team arrives at the
circuit on Thursday lunchtime - and finishes around 43 working hours later
on Sunday evening. In the intervening hours Nick, together with his team of
Andy Stevenson and Dave Perrot, will have totally stripped and rebuilt the
car twice over, replacing 34 different items and 1478 litres of fluids in
the process.

"The first thing we do when we get to the circuit on Thursday is fire up
the engine" explains Burrows. "To do that you have to bleed the water system
first, then put on the heaters and warm the water running through the engine.
Once the engine is sufficiently warmed up it's turned over three or four
times, whilst the Peugeot technicians carefully monitor the fuel and oil
pressure. When the correct pressures are reached the Peugeot guy presses a
button on his computer and fires the engine up.

"As soon as the engine temperature has reached operational level - about 73
degrees - we staff to check things over. First it's the clutch, then we go
up and down through the gears before checking the reverse switch. After that
it's the short shift and neutral buttons then, once we ve measured the oil
level, the Total technician will take samples of the engine and gearbox oil
to analyse them for metal content.

"Before we can start any set-up work we have to put out 'flat patches' which
are carefully adjusted and checked to ensure that they are absolutely level.
The car is put onto the patches and any last minute adjustments which the
engineers have decided upon since we left the factory are carried out. Then,
once the car's been scrutineered and everything's finished, we head off to
the hotel".

The mechanics will arrive at the track a minimum of two and a half hours
before the cars are due to run the following morning, again firing up the
engines as soon as they get to the garage. After checking the radio function
and pressurising the dampers, the mechanics head off to breakfast. "Assuming
there were no problems when we fired the car up we'll take it down to the
FIA bay to weigh it and double check all the legalities with the official FIA
equipment, before we start running.

"When the pit lane opens, I'll wave Martin out for the start of his
installation lap I always find that first lap of the weekend very nerve
racking! As soon as the car gets back to the garage the covers come off and
we check everything over. Then we wait for somebody else to go out and clean
up the track! Work on the car is divided up amongst the three mechanics,
with each looking after a specific area "It enables us to get the job done
quicker if it's broken down into specialised areas, and that can be vital
during the course of a session. Dave works on the front of the car making
all the adjustments to the front springs and front wing, and strapping the
driver in. Andy looks after the back end; the gearbox, rear springs and rear
wing changes. I look after all the bodywork, brake ducts and engine ducts
and oversee what the other guys are doing. Although each person is
specialised in his own area we can all dive in and help out where necessary.
I encourage the people on my car to check each other's work. When you are
very familiar with working on a particular part of the car it can be easy to
miss something you can't see it for looking then somebody else will come
along and spot it straight away. Mistakes are few and far between - they
have to be at this level - and if anything does go wrong it's a genuine
error. It's down to me to take responsibility though as I'm in charge
of the car. It really gets to you if there's a mistake. You wake up at night
thinking about it! You feel as though you've let the side down.

"There's never much time to take a break, but once the car has finished
running for the day we sit down for half an hour to eat lunch Then it's
back to work, stripping the car down. First the back end comes off; the
uprights are taken off and then the gearbox comes off to be stripped down
and checked. Then the engine is removed. Sometimes we might have to fit new
ratios. We always fit a new engine and measure the clutch. Both Friday and
Saturday follow much the same lines as far as the workload is concerned,
although on Saturday night there's more to be done to prepare the car for
the race We fit new brakes, new radiators; a total rebuild. Once the car is
back together again you fire it up, set it up, and polish it before heading
home. There's always a sense of achievement if your car is ready first,
although if you finish too much before the others it probably means you
haven't done a proper job! There is quite a competitive edge to most
mechanics; a lot of us are frustrated racing drivers! There's definitely a
rivalry between the mechanics on each car - particularly in qualifying. You
want both cars to qualify well but you want yours to do a bit better! It's
the same thing in the race

The build-up to the big event starts an hour before the off, once the routine
work surrounding the warm-up has been completed. "Timing is very important
throughout the weekend, but particularly in the half an hour between the pit
lane opening and the start of the race. As soon as the car arrives on the
grid we take the engine cover off, put on a reflective blanket and put dry
ice baskets in alongside the radiators; the engine can get very hot on the
formation lap because the car is running at slow speed - the dry ice helps
that. Then we all gather around our grid girl for a photo - it's become a
bit of a tradition with the guys on my car". During the next ten minutes the
engine will be started and checked over, bodywork will be taped up to prevent
fuel from leaking into the car in the event of a refueling spillage and,
with 3 minutes to go, the tyre blankets are unplugged "Then we have 2
minutes of waiting. I never feel nervous on the grid although I checked my
heartbeat at the last race and it was 140 per minute, so I guess the
adrenalin must get to me" In the final minute the blankets are removed, the
car is dropped onto the ground and started and the mechanics leave the grid.
"I always give a quick thumbs up to Martin then stand by the track and watch
to make sure he gets off OK. Then we all head back to the garage to watch
the start".

The following two hours will determine just how the previous forty five are
to be rewarded. At Hockenheim, as at each of the races on the calendar, the
reward that Nick, Andy, Dave, and the rest of the Benson and Hedges Total
Jordan Peugeot team are looking for, is points.

-- 
Stephen M Baines

 "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge
 and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier"
    Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport

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