MEDIA 

RALF SCHUMACHER WILL HAVE TO RELAX

Eddie Jordan tries to teach...  - 22/04/98 
After   a  disappointing   begining ,   the   Jordan Formula One team have been  working on ways of calming  down  German  driver  Ralf  Schumacher. The  team  said  that  Ralf,  brother  of you know who !... spent most of last Saturday doing practice starts at Silverstone. 
"The  work  we  did covered more than simply the physical  start  itself  to  include  the  psychology
behind a good start," explained Jordan technical director   Gary  Anderson.  "Ralf  has  tended  to 
become  too  flustered  on the starting grid so we
 
 

 

 
 worked on focusing and relaxing.The five seconds or so before the red lights go out  can seem like a life time and it is important not to  get psyched up until the last two  seconds. Having  spent  the  day working  on  this,  Ralf  seems  far  more  relaxed about it all so now we have to hope  he  can  carry this through to the starting grid at Imola." 
Jordan  have  yet  to  take  a  world championship point  this  season  after  three   races  and   Ralf Schumacher has yet to finish a race.In Melbourne he crashed on the second lap and in  Sao Paulo he spun  off  on  the  first  lap. In Buenos Aires,  the German qualified fifth fastest but went out after 22 laps. He fell from fifth to 13th on the first lap, labelled  one  of  the  worst  starts  in  grand prix history.
Jordan  said  they  had  also   made  a number  of modifications to the  Mugen-Honda  powered  198 car to make it more competitive for the San Marino Grand  Prix  in  Imola,  Italy,  on  April  26th. The main changes are a longer wheel-base, noticeable only to the expert, and aerodynamic modifications. Jordan  said  the  changes  were  to  give  the  car
greater  rear  end stability and braking power for the  big   stops  and  long  sweeping   exits   which dominate the Imola layout.