Although twenty cars started today's race in Indianapolis (USA) only nine finished in what unfolded as one of the most eventful races of the season so far. Jaguar Racing drivers Mark Webber (27) and Christian Klien (21) made good clean starts although Christian's race was short lived after the Toyota of Da Matta braked hard to miss Panis forcing Christian to hit the back of him. Christian was forced to retire while team-mate Mark raced on under the safety car. Mark drove a strong race with a two-stop strategy and despite suffering heavy damage to the car after coming into contact with debris from an incident involving the BMW-Williams of Ralf Schumacher was racing for sixth position when he suffered an oil-leak and was forced to stop twelve laps from the end. The team are now focused on their Barcelona test next week ahead of the French GP.
Mark Webber: It has been a strong weekend for us here and I was racing a good race today when I was forced to retire after losing oil and catching on fire. My race up to then had been fun and the pace of the car was encouraging. To be in the top six is a good reflection of the pace of the R5 and we had been reliable all weekend. I did run over some debris and this caused damage to my front wing end plate and I lost my bargeboard. The guys sorted me out very quickly and my strategy was excellent. We deserved points today, now we will just have to focus at getting them at the next race.
Christian Klien: A good start and first corner but it all came to an end too shortly. Da Matta appeared to slow instantly on entering the second corner and I had no-where to go other than into the back of him. Disappointing yes, but I am motivated by the pace of the R5 this weekend and the improvement in reliabilty. I will now be testing and then points in Magny-Cours is my next goal.
Dr Mark Gillan Head of Vehicle Performance: It has been a weekend of mixed emotions for us here in Indianapolis. We came to this race very well prepared and focused on the task ahead of us. Points were our goal and we should have scored three with Mark today. Both Christian and Mark made clean starts and cleared the first corner. As Christian entered the second corner, it appears that the Toyota of Da Matta breaked heavily leaving Christian with no-where to go other than into the back of him. This was unfortunately the end of Christian's race. He has shown promise all weekend with increasing pace on track and I would have liked to have seen his performance today. Mark's race was very stong and despite the safety car deployment for nearly the first twenty laps he maintained his position and was racing for a sixth place finish when he suffered an oil leak and came to a stop on lap 60. Prior to that there had been a lot of debris on the track after the incident involving the BMW-Williams of Ralf Schumacher and it appears that Mark ran over the front wing that had been on the track causing him to damage his front wing end plate, floor and to lose his left bargeboard. We managed to make the repairs during his first pit-stop and there was minimal loss to his position and time as this was carried out during the safety-car deployment. Although it would be fair to say that I am disappointed with the end result, I am very proud of the team-work that I have witnessed over the last two weeks and particularly the morale of everyone involved with the team.
We now travel to Barcelona (Spain) to complete our three day, two-car test in peparation for the next race in Magny-Cours, France.
