F1: Italian GP Jordan preview 


       BENSON AND HEDGES TOTAL JORDAN-PEUGEOT GP PREVIEW
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ROUND 12 - ITALIAN GP: Monza
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Michael Schumacher's Belgian GP victory is set to bring  the 
`tifosi'  out  in force for the next event on the  calendar,  the 
Italian  Grand Prix. The Benson and Hedges  Total  Jordan-Peugeot 
team have been out testing at Silverstone this week in advance of 
the 53-lap race which takes place on Sunday, September 8th at the 
historic Monza circuit.
     Both Martin Brundle and B&H Jordan test driver Gianni Morbi-
delli were in action at the three-day test, which began on  Tues-
day, August 27th. 
     "We had two objectives," sad General Manager, Trevor Foster. 
"Gianni continued Peugeot's engine development programme, testing 
the durability of components for next year's engine, while Martin 
carried on with the work we are undertaking to improve our  aero-
dynamic performance.
    "Unfortunately  we  were somewhat hampered  by  the  weather 
conditions.  We had a mixture of rain showers and blustery  winds 
throughout the three days - not ideal for testing and particular-
ly  not for testing aerodynamic  modifications. As a  result,  we 
didn't get through as much as we would have liked. That's how  it 
goes though. Sometimes you will have two or three good days  when 
you  can really pile through the work, other times you come  away 
from a test having learned very little because of bad weather  or 
maybe chassis or engine problem."
     The  team has vastly expanded its test programme  this  year 
and  now boasts a dedicated 11-man test team. "We have  completed 
in excess of 80 days so far this season and I anticipate we  will 
have done more than 110 days by Christmas," says Foster. "Testing 
is  an  area of paramount importance. At a race meeting  you  are 
gathering data purely to maximize the performance of the car  for 
that particular weekend. All the information and data from  which 
the  engineers develop the car, is gathered at test sessions.  We 
are continually trying to evaluate and improve the performance of 
the  car, either by trying out new components or by  reevaluating 
old ones to ensure we are continuing on the right path.
     "It's  quite  easy to get sent off in the  wrong  direction, 
weather conditions, be it wind or rain, can make it difficult  to 
evaluate data accurately, as can temperature changes.
     "It's also important to remember that you have a human being 
in  the car who can perform better on some days than  on  others. 
All these things have to be taken into account. Outside  perform-
ance  gains, the other very important aspect of testing is  reli-
ability."
     How  successful  has Jordan's programme been this  year?  "I 
think  it  can be looked at in two ways," says Foster.  "We  have 
completed more simulated race distances than ever before and that 
has helped enormously in terms of our reliability which has  been 
exceptionally good this year - our best ever. 
     "Speed  is more difficult to evaluate because it's  possible 
to  progress,  but stay in the same position in relation  to  you 
competitors.  While we may still be qualifying as the fifth  best 
team,  in its own way that is progress because we are hanging  on 
the teams ahead of us. What we haven't succeeded in doing so  far 
this year is closing the gap on the teams ahead, and that's  what 
every team is looking to do - get closer to the Williams.
     "Gianni Morbidelli, our official test and reserve driver has 
played  a  very important role in our programme this  year.  He's 
very  disciplined  and that's exactly what you want from  a  test 
driver  - somebody who will do precisely what you ask him  to  do 
because there is always a specific reason behind the request.
     "Fabrizio  di  Simone has played his part,  but  Gianni  has 
really  been the workhorse of the team. Racing drivers  generally 
just  want  to make the car go faster all the  time,  and  that's 
understandable. Gianni has carried out a lot of race  simulations 
and  done lots of running with heavy fuel loads. It takes  disci-
pline to undertake that role."
     Testing  was one of the issues spotlighted by  recent  revi-
sions to the Concorde Agreement. "I think the idea was originally 
put forward to reduce costs, but theoretically it could  actually 
increase  them," says Foster. "Teams will continue to spend  more 
money every year because new areas of technology are  continually 
being  developed.  In fact, reducing costs in Formula One  is  an 
almost  impossible task because it's so technology driven.  We're 
still quite an open Formula from that point of view."             
     Jordan  Technical  director Gary Anderson, agrees.  "If  you 
limit  the number of days that a team is allowed to spend on  the 
track, one obvious result will be an increase of test  simulation 
equipment being installed at the factory for those teams that can 
afford it. 
     "Computer and model simulations will be increased to try  to 
cover the eventualities which would have previously been  covered 
at  the  circuit. Take four-poster rigs as an  example.  The  big 
teams  could  have a four-poster rig working day in and  day  out 
which would necessitate an extra car to run it ... and so on.
     "I personally look at it as being worse; on the track every-
thing  is equal, if track time is limited the `toys' will  become 
more  important and that will favour the rich teams.  This  route 
could  also compromise safety. A component may be  tested  exten-
sively on a rig, but will never be subjected to the same loads as 
it would on the track.
     "The other result of limiting track availability will be the 
growth in the size of test teams. Two or three years ago the  top 
four  used  a one-car test team. Now that we are  getting  up  to 
speed with a full-blown, one-car test team, Williams, McLaren and 
Benetton  have two-car test teams. Obviously if you run a  three-
day  test with two cars, you are effectively getting six days  of 
testing and that is inevitably what will happen. If you put in  a 
restriction  in one area, people will intensify  their  programme 
elsewhere,   piling   resources  into  an  area  which   is   not 
restricted."
     "The  intention of the rule is certainly one which  everyone 
will  agree  with," says Foster. "Whether the execution  in  this 
form will achieve that end remains to be seen. In the meantime we 
will  continue to maximize every opportunity to improve  our  re-
sults."


     CIRCUIT DETAILS
     Length: 5.770 kms.
     Race distance: 53 laps - 305.810 kms.
        
     1995 Pole: David Coulthard    Williams-Renault    1:24.462.
     1995 FL:   Gerhard Berger     Ferrari             1:26.419.
                       1995 Results:
     1. Johnny Herbert             Benetton-Renault.
     2. Mika Hakkinen              McLaren-Mercedes.
     3. Heinz-Harald Frentzen      Sauber-Ford.
     4. Mark Blundell              McLaren-Mercedes.
     5. Mika Salo                  Tyrrell-Yamaha.
     6. Jean-Christophe Boullion   Sauber-Ford.
                      


Magis mutus quam piscis


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