Sports
Jaguar duo aiming for more than net gain
LONDON, (AFP) - The Jaguar Formula One team has broken with the sport's traditions by launching its car for the 2003 Grand Prix season, the R4, on the internet rather than at a glitzy venue.
But one tradition was maintained with the team's new driving duo of Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia doing their best to sound upbeat about the team's prospects while warning of the difficulties ahead.
The R4 was straight line tested in Belgium last week but is due to run on a Grand Prix track for the first time Tuesday at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
Webber, 26, who finished fifth on his Grand Prix debut when driving for minnows Minardi on home soil at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, said he was looking forward to being in a more competitive outfit this season.
"I'm not going to get out my crystal ball and start making predictions but I want to go racing, lets put it that way," Webber said.
"Last year, at Minardi, I was in a team that, largely through no fault of its own, was stuck at or near the back throughout the season."
Jaguar, a famous British sports car marque, entered the Formula One circuit in 2000 by buying out the outfit of former world champion Jackie Stewart, and are owned by American motorcar giant, Ford.
But despite that backing Jaguar only finished seventh in last season's championship and two months ago team principal and three times Formula One world drivers' champion Niki Lauda and 70 other staff were sacked.
Lauda had already axed drivers Eddie Irvine and the less experienced Pedro de la Rosa, replacing them with Webber and Pizzonia.
However, Webber warned that the team's fortunes would still take time to improve despite the changes.
"I'm not saying we're going to be challenging the big boys in 2003, but I'm certainly hoping we'll be serious players in that tight competitive bunch immediately behind them," Webber explained.
Pizzonia, 22, has yet to drive in a Grand Prix although he was a test driver with Jaguar's Formula One rivals Williams before being picked to join the only marginally more experienced Webber.
And he remained undaunted by the prospect of getting to grips with unfamiliar circuits as well as a new car.
"I tend to learn circuits pretty quickly, so I'm not too worried. And, anyway, I quite like the changes in the regulations.
I think they were very sensible, so I can't really complain, can I?", said the Brazilian, nicknamed 'Jungle Boy' after growing up in the Amazonian rain forest.
Jaguar's Managing Director, David Pitchforth, insisted lessons had been learned from the poor performance of the R3, the team's car in the 2002 season.
"We focused on absolutely everything to ensure that we contest the season with a race car that is capable of being competitive and finishing races reliably," Pitchforth said.
"It sounds obvious, I know, but that's not how Jaguar Racing began last season and by the time we had worked out the problems with R3, most of the season had passed us by," he added.