MONACO MEMORIES INCLUDE TOP-10S FOR JAGS

5/26/2002 From TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Monaco — Any Grand Prix weekend has its moments, and the exotic and challenging Monaco Grand Prix hands out its fair share. Ironically and fortunately, in the grueling 78-lap race itself, Jaguar Racing’s Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa didn’t have any major moments or dramas, and as a result they were able to bring their Jaguar Cosworth R3s home in the top 10. Given that they started the race from 20th and 21st, a top 10 finish was a solid result.

“It was good to get two cars to the finish after the troubles that we have had in the past few races,” de la Rosa said. “From a team point of view, we have to be proud of getting two cars to the finish at this circuit and in these conditions. It is not easy to drive around here, I tell you!”

De la Rosa and Irvine both crashed in practice but they kept their Jaguars off the walls and away from other cars in the race. They even had a fun duel in the closing stages of the race in which Irvine beat de la Rosa by just 0.762 of a second at the finish line.

“I enjoyed it today,” de la Rosa said. “I enjoyed chasing Eddie at the end of the race.”

All four Ford Cosworth-powered cars made it to the end of this demanding race. The good news is that Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished sixth and earned another point for the Orange Arrows Cosworth team. Frentzen had his moments as well including having to make an extra pit stop after the refueling rig didn’t operate correctly on his first stop. But for that, Frentzen probably would have finished fifth.

“The point means a lot,” Arrows director Tom Walkinshaw told Team Ford Racing, “but two points (for finishing fifth) would have meant a lot more.”

Frentzen wasn’t involved in the accident in which Rubens Barrichello rammed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen at the chicane, but he was affected by it.

“When Rubens hit Kimi, a piece of carbon fiber from the accident fell down my back,” Frentzen told TFR. “That started to hurt me, so had to loosen the belts a little bit move around so that the piece could slide down. So that was little bit uncomfortable for a couple of laps.”

After pitting for repairs, Barrichello charged back and hounded Frentzen to the finish. Frentzen beat him by a mere 0.409 of a second.

“It was very tough to stay ahead of Rubens,” Frentzen said. “I was suffering a little bit with the balance of the car at the end there. I just tried to keep him behind me. There was no way I was going to let him by!”

Frentzen’s teammate Enrique Bernoldi, who was the 12th and final driver to finish, had his Monaco moments as well. He pulled off a good pass on Felipe Massa only have Massa tuck in behind and lock up his brakes and push both cars off the track.

“Massa probably forgot that when he went right behind Enrique that he would lose all his downforce and his front wheels would lock up,” Walkinshaw said. “It is an elementary mistake.”

Both cars got going again, and race officials handed Massa (who would later crash out of the race) a 10 second stop-and-go penalty for his accident with Bernoldi.

Bernoldi would later receive his own penalty—a drive though the puts penalty—for gaining an advantage when he cut across the chicane.

“This weekend gave me a lot of useful experience,” Bernoldi said. “I am very pleased to finish on such a tough circuit.”

There were plenty of other moments in the Monaco Grand Prix including David Coulthard’s second victory in three years. And these Monaco’s moments are all now Monaco memories.