Bahrain GP preview - Jordan-Ford.

The forthcoming inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix will be momentous as the first Formula One race in the Middle East, and it is also significant for Jordan Ford as the hosting Kingdom of Bahrain is a new partner of the team for 2004.

The unique campaign of cultural and humanitarian messages initiated by His Highness the Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa witnesses a series of different emblems sported on the EJ14 engine covers at each race, beginning with the dove of peace at the Australian Grand Prix, and an image representing human equality at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The symbol to adorn the Jordan Ford cars at the Bahrain Grand Prix will for the first time be unveiled by His Highness the Crown Prince himself, along with Eddie Jordan and the team's drivers, on Thursday 1 April at 1700hrs at the Bahrain International Circuit.

"This campaign is to rouse attention and make people think," said team boss, EJ. "It's an idea that the Crown Prince and I came up with together. The messages of peace and equality seemed to work very well in the first races and you will see something different again at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"This is all about awareness and demonstrating that Bahrain is interested in contributing more than a single event - it is also committed to a continuous raising of awareness about issues that are meaningful for the world community. The people of Bahrain are peace-loving, adventurous, creative and ambitious. They are internationally minded and are proud of their participation in global activities: business, health, education. Bahrain is breaking new ground and I think it's very commendable.

"The forthcoming emblems will be remarkable and striking and Bahrain is on the car associated with each emblem at every race, drawing attention to universal and meaningful issues. A humanitarian message in F1 is beneficial because the opportunity to raise awareness within the sport and to its huge audience is matchless."

What will happen out on the track though this weekend? James Robinson, head of race and test engineering at Jordan gives us his views...

"We have seen plans for the track and some TV coverage - it looks quite remarkable," commented Robinson, "It seems the circuit will be medium to heavy on brake wear with its long high speed straights and very tight corners although not having been there ourselves, it's difficult to give accurate impressions. The track looks sandy and dirty, which will introduce new problems for the car and its systems, but as this circuit is brand new, everybody should be trying to learn at the same rate.

"In preparing for a race at a new circuit, we do as much simulation work as possible, although access issues have prevented us from running our usual track surveys here. Once we have an accurate model of the track we can design a driver model to work out a racing line and run simulation tools to determine car set-up, lap times and downforce data to find the optimum aerodynamic set-up for that track. From that we project fuel consumption, brake wear, set-up criteria and so on. At present we don't know the surface characteristics as we have only a 2D drawing so in many ways it's really a case of waiting until we get there.

"In terms of where the team is, the first races are always about reliability and again we will be focusing on that. Our target for Bahrain is to get two cars home. Giorgio [Pantano] is still learning the car and the formula, and hopefully we will see him getting closer to Nick [Heidfeld] as the season progresses; while Nick has had some excellent starts and opening laps and we must build on that to allow him to continue the pace for the duration."

Nick Heidfeld's start to 2004 has been tough, and despite some spirited performances, both in qualifying and the two races thus far, he has yet to finish, and that must be his hope this weekend, reliability permitting.

"I'm a little disappointed not to have finished a race however on the positive side I have made good starts and my speed has been quite encouraging," noted the German, "I was keeping a few cars behind me at the Malaysian Grand Prix and our pace was quite good. I know the team have been working really hard to sort out the technical problems I have experienced and my target for this race is to finish, and maintain the pace that I have been able to find so far. I'm very much looking forward to visiting Bahrain because I think this new race is good for Formula One, after all it's a World Championship so we should go all over the world. I always like the challenge of new circuits and I enjoy visiting new places."

For rookie team-mate Giorgio Pantano, Bahrain will make a nice change, as his lack of experience won't be so much of a disadvantage. Thus far he has finished 13th in Malaysia and 14th in Australia, something he is hoping to build on in Bahrain.

"I think this race is going to be quite exciting as the circuit is new for everybody so nobody knows it and in that respect we're all equal," said Pantano. "It will be interesting to see who is quickest at finding a good set-up for this race. I am happy with two race finishes at this stage and I don't think we have done a bad job. Now we can start to improve in terms of speed and results. I am feeling more confident with the team and with the whole environment. It's starting to come together a little bit more easily now and I hope we will see that in Bahrain."