Chinese Grand Prix — race
October 16, 2005

The Jordan Grand Prix drivers experienced mixed fortunes in the concluding race of its final season and 250th Grand Prix in Formula One. Karthikeyan came into the pits at the end of the formation lap while Monteiro had a good start. After the safety car period due to a damaged drain cover being on the track, Karthikeyan lost control of his car at turn 13 but fortunately escaped unhurt from the ensuing accident. Meanwhile, Monteiro, the first Bridgestone finisher today, had a rather uneventful race, ran a two-stop strategy and finished in 11th position.

Team quotes on the Chinese Grand Prix race

Tiago Monteiro (EJ15B/02) — 11th
“Wow, what a season. I am so happy and excited about the whole year. When you start the season you do not really know what to expect and to finish the season with such a high record of race finishes, great reliability, best rookie of the year, man of the race in Spa, a podium at Indy is unbelievable. I could not have dreamt of a better first season. I would like to thank the team as Formula One is really a team sport. They have all done a fantastic job to give me such a good car. Even in the last race, we were able to fight with the Toyotas and Williams. It was a lot of fun and I have really enjoyed this season. ”

Narain Karthikeyan (EJ15B/01) — retired
“It was an exciting race. We had to pit in the first lap because we had a slight problem and we wanted to make sure it was ok. I passed Doornbos in the first pit stop and the safety car came out for what was a long time, which caused my tyres to lose temperature and pressure. A lot of drivers were making mistakes trying to warm up their tyres. Then when the race started again, I had a good first lap and passed Sato. I was following Trulli and coming to turn 13, I do not know what happened. The car was on the artificial grass and it sucked me into the wall. I had a very big accident but I am happy to say that it could have been worse. I have a bit of a sore neck but apart from this I am ok.”

Sporting director: Adrian Burgess
“Narain obviously had a fairly huge shunt, which was partly due to the safety staying out on track quite a long time. However, the main thing is that he is ok. Tiago did a fantastic job. The engineers made the right strategy choices under safety car. Tiago had another finish and apart from the last 15 laps in the Brazilian GP, he has completed all of the 19 races. He has had the most race mileage from all the drivers, which is amazing for a rookie. This shows the excellent reliability we have had throughout the season. We would like to thank our partners, Toyota and Bridgestone for their tremendous support. I would also like to congratulate Renault for winning the Constructors Championship as well as the Drivers Championship. This is the end of an era for the yellow cars and now we are looking forward to next year when we will become Midland. Everybody is very motivated and I would also like to thank all the staff at the factory and everyone who has supported Jordan over the years. Let’s start again and here we go Midland 2006.