By Phil Giles
April 7 2004

Quick Nick had a slower view than most of the new Sahkir Circuit in Bahrain today as he inspected the desert's twists and turns on foot. "When I first looked at the map of this circuit, I didn’t think much of it." he told the official Jordan site.  "I was wrong.  It looks very nice, except that there are a few too many slow corners. But, as there is very little overtaking in F1, the track was probably designed to create more passing opportunities. But there is a downhill “Esses” section that seems interesting and challenging. Of course it might all look completely different tomorrow when I’m sitting in the car.”

A firm believer of fair play, Nick was disappointed to see so many tarmac run off areas. "Personally, I would prefer to see more gravel traps than tarmac run-off areas, as I believe you should be penalised if you make a driving error, but from a safety point of view, it looks very good.”.  Reports in today's Autosport magazine suggest that the track surface may not last the race distance but Nick was impressed. “Although the surface is not as dirty with sand as I had expected, it is odd not to see any grass,” continued Nick. "Also, with most of the run-off areas made of tarmac and plenty of concrete around, there are not many natural markers and it will be hard for the first few laps to get your bearings. But it’s the same for everyone." He continued.

The teams focus in the short term is reliability.  Nick has yet to finish a race this season, while rookie Pantano despite bringing the car home is being urged to improve and to start his confidence building and pushing the car harder. Giorgio said,  "I don't think we've done a bad job.  I'm feeling a bit more confident with the whole environment and it's starting to come together a bit more easily. Now we can start to improve the results."

The team also took the opportunity to reveal the latest Message From Bahrain.  The team chose the emblem of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. "Ban the Bomb".