Jaguar Racing drivers Mark Webber and Christian Klien started the Canadian Grand Prix today from 14th and 10th places respectively. Both drivers made good starts off the grid, however on entering the first corner, Christian was hit from behind by the Jordan of Timo Glock, damaging Christian's rear end plate and forcing him into the back of the McLaren-Mercedes of David Coulthard. David was forced into a spin and even with Christian's best efforts to avoid him he hit David again forcing himself air-bound with an eventual landing on the front wing of team-mate Mark. As a result Mark's rear suspension was damaged forcing him to retire on lap eight. Christian raced on and despite suffering damage to the front and rear of his car was able to finish the race in 13th position. The team will now travel directly on to the forthcoming US
Grand Prix which will take place this coming weekend at the Indianapolis Speedway.
Mark Webber: I was looking forward to this race as I felt that we had a good strategy in place and the R5 was feeling competitive. My start was quick enough and I was fast into the first corner. I could see that there was a lot of traffic in the corner and not a lot of space. Unfortunately some things are out of your control and I could see that David Coulthard was going into a spin and Christian and I both had no where to go. As Christian made contact with David the outcome was his R5 landing on my front wing. I could tell that some damage had been done immediately and the team confirmed that the rear suspension had a problem. From a safety point of view we retired and of course it's disappointing given the amount of work that I know we have all been doing going into this weekend. We are now looking ahead to our next race and I and the team are looking forward to getting back out on track.
Christian Klien: My start off the grid was fine and I very quickly found myself in the thick of it in corner one. I was hit from behind and then forced into the back of David Coulthard. I did what I could to avoid him but I was forced into the air and then I came down on my team mate, Mark. I continued racing but there was some damage to the front and rear of the car causing problems. The car started to overheat and I came in for a pitstop and the guys sorted this immediately. However, the front wing was damaged and by the time I had left my first pit-stop I knew that I would have to come in again. I was forced to stop again to
check from a safety point of view that my rear wing end plate was going to be ok and once the guys had given me the thumbs up I was out racing again. Although I was bue-flagged a couple of times my pace was really good in the R5 and I was pleased with the R5. The first corner was an unfortunate incident but I know that when we are all racing for that first corner position these things are bound to happen. I will focus now on going to Indianapolis and another new track for me.
Dr Mark Gillan Head of Vehicle Performance: We had an unfortunate incident involving both of our cars on the first corner and we had to retire Mark after he suffered damage to his rear suspension. Christian had an overheating problem and then front wing and rear end plate damage all emanating from his incident with a Jordan and a McLaren. Despite these challenges Christian's R5 has good pace during
the race and he was consistent throughout. The cars were not really given the opportunity to race this weekend but we all know that in this sport anything can happen, particularly in the first corner! We are now off to Indianapolis where we will be focusing on finishing in the points.
