By Phil Giles
September 1 2002

It was a disappointing weekend for the Jordan boys and girls, who travelled to Belgium in the hope of points towards this seasons championship effort. Jordan have traditionally run well at this circuit and expectation was high going into Friday. However the car was plagued by a number of technical problems, not least that the Honda engine was not performing well.  Aerodynamics were also making the car difficult to drive and a suspension problem was causing Giancarlo problems.

An off during the qualifying session certainly didn't help Giancarlo's weekend, forcing him to qualify in the spare car.  Takuma was experiencing problems and failed to show his previous qualifying form.

In the race, Taku was hindered by oversteer and a botched pit stop didn't help.  Giancarlo was running well on a one stop strategy, however the longest circuit on the calendar took it's toll on a number of cars and the Honda engine let go in spectacular fashion.  Taku brought the car home in 11th place, just 1 lap down on the eventual winner Michael Schumacher.

TAKUMA SATO
“It has been a tough weekend for us. I had quite a difficult start, I don’t know why yet because I haven’t seen any data, but the car was quite nervous everywhere, oversteering and hopping around a lot and costing me quite a few seconds.  At the first pit stop, the tyre change took a really long time, which was a shame, although the second and third stints were better.  Spa is great fun to drive so it’s a shame we didn’t have better results, but this is motor racing and you have to fight back.”

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA
“I was having a good race and unfortunately we lost it when the engine blew up, which was very scary. Considering my grid position, the one-stop strategy was looking good, which is frustrating.  I’m already looking to the next race.”

EDDIE JORDAN
“We’ve worked very hard here but it’s been a disappointing weekend all round. I’d like to thank the whole team and the drivers for their efforts.”