Formula One made its long-awaited debut in Turkey today at the stunning new Istanbul Park circuit, on which Tiago Monteiro, Narain Karthikeyan and Nicolas Kiesa thoroughly enjoyed their first outing. Despite a predictably dusty surface, which affected grip levels in the opening session but improved significantly during the afternoon, Jordan Grand Prix drivers began their preparations without a bank of previous track data. However, they managed to familiarise themselves quickly with the challenging 5.340-km circuit, although a gearbox issue for Karthikeyan limited his track time in the afternoon session. The Jordan drivers worked through their full Friday programme, focussing particularly on setting-up chassis balance and assessing the Bridgestone tyres available for this weekend?s Grand Prix.

NARAIN KARTHIKEYAN
?I like the circuit a lot here at Istanbul, apart from the last three corners, which are less flowing. The organisers have done an excellent job. In some corners, for instance corner n?8, you have to be really committed. The track was a bit dusty in the first session but it got much better in the second one. It is a pity I had a gearbox problem in the afternoon, as I was quite quick in the morning. The circuit is quite technical to learn but I have really enjoyed driving here.?

ADRIAN BURGESS
SPORTING DIRECTOR
?It was an interesting day for the whole team, engineers and drivers included on a new circuit. Narain, Tiago and Nicolas have done a very good job. Narain unfortunately did not get to run new tyres this afternoon as he had a small gearbox problem, which restricted his run. Nicolas and Tiago did some Bridgestone tyre comparison, which will give us a lot of information. Now we are going to analyse this data in order to improve the car and make the right choice of tyres