F-1
Suzuka 2003
-
12/10/2003
 
10/10/2003
Jaguar 9th & 15th In 1st Qualifying
 
Japan Grand Prix – Friday Testing, Free Practice & First Qualifying

The final round of the FIA Formula One World Championship got underway today at the Suzuka Circuit with the first round of qualifying. Between them, drivers Mark Webber and Justin Wilson generated two and a half race distances of trouble-free mileage during this morning’s two-hour test and Free Practice sessions and were in the end rewarded with 9th and 15th positions respectively. The top four teams occupy the top eight places and Mark’s ‘best of the rest’ performance is pleasing in what was one of the most productive Friday sessions this season for Jaguar Racing.

Mark Gillan
Head of Vehicle Performance
“A very pleasing day and one which has generated over 770km for us without any reliability problems. The top four teams have been very strong today at what is a very demanding and technical circuit. To have posted the 9th fastest time, therefore, is an extremely positive start to our weekend. It’s a little disappointing that Justin wasn’t closer to Mark but in all fairness, his lap times have been steadily improving all day. We have achieved successfully our preparation list for race day and our tyre and set-up work this morning was positive. With four teams now fighting for that precious 5th place in the championship, tomorrow promises to be a very interesting day and one which will significantly affect the outcome of Sunday’s race given how difficult it is to overtake around here.”

Mark Webber
Position: 9th Best time: 1:31.305
Chassis: R4-03 T-Car: R4-04
“There’s some quick boys out there today and I am pretty happy to have got 9th place behind the front runners. It’s awesome driving around this circuit on very low fuel. There are some big G-forces at work and it’s a great playground for an F1 car. It’s a very demanding circuit aerodynamically speaking and it puts a lot of pressure on engines too. It’s going to be difficult to keep up with the big boys this weekend but our battle is against BAR-Honda, Sauber and Toyota – all of whom are chasing points and 5th place in the constructor’s championship. We have begun our campaign well and I feel quite good going into tomorrow’s decisive second qualifying session.”

Justin Wilson
Position: 15th Best time: 1:32.291
Chassis: R4-05
“I am reasonably pleased with what is my quickest lap of the day. It’s a very difficult circuit to master but one that I am getting the hang of. Sector One is particularly tough and there is absolutely no margin for error. The slightest foot wrong results in the car sliding wide and there is an awful lot of time to be lost and won through there. I suffered some minor niggles in the first session this morning but by the end of the second session, our preparation going into qualifying was very good. I generated a good amount of mileage today and there is still more time left in the car – something I aim to extract during tomorrow’s critical second qualifying phase. Getting my first championship point at the U.S. Grand Prix two weeks was a great feeling but it leaves you with an appetite for more and given how close the constructor’s battle is, both Mark and I will be making an aggressive charge for more points come Sunday.”



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