22/05/2005
NEWS STORY
After a difficult final aggregated qualifying session due to unbalanced cars Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan qualified in 15th and 16th position respectively. Both drivers experienced mixed fortunes during the very demanding 78-lap Monaco race. Narain Karthikeyan had to retire on lap 23 after he had a contact with the barrier, which damaged the hydraulic system of his car. Tiago Monteiro, however, had a good start, managed to avoid race incidents and finished 13th. The team is going now straight to Germany to prepare for the European Grand Prix in a week's time.
Tiago Monteiro: Six race finishes in a row is an important thing obviously in order to collect as much information as possible. After this weekend, we need to do a lot of things to improve the car because we have been struggling throughout the three days. It was a hard race on the car and tyres but also mentally as we had to stay focussed in order to stay on track, not make any mistake, let faster drivers pass by and bring the car to the finish. It is a bit frustrating as so many cars made it to the end but if we look at the positive side, we were one of them.
Narain Karthikeyan: It is really a pity I had to retire. I made a decent start and then I had a touch with the barrier, which damaged the hydraulic system. This explains why we had to pit early in the race. The team did a good job to try to fix it but unfortunately it was not possible and I had to retire. The whole weekend was very difficult for us, so now we have to make sure we will do better in the European Grand Prix next week.
Trevor Carlin: Unfortunately Narain Karthikeyan retired after a small broach with the barriers and damaged the hydraulic system on the car. Tiago Monteiro did a good steady job and brought the car home even though he had a few handling problems. This is another race finish for Jordan Grand Prix and a 100% finish rate for Tiago.