Ex-Sato 2002 Jordan F1 car offered for track day drivers

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In the round-up: A refurbished 2002-specification Jordan F1 car has been made available for members of the public to drive.

Drive the 2002 Jordan EJ12

Takuma Sato’s 2002 Jordan F1 chassis has been refitted and is available to book for track day experiences at Bovingdon Airfield in Herfordshire, UK.

The car’s original Honda V10 engine has been replaced with a 3-litre Judd, requiring visible changes to the engine cover, and cutting power from 835bhp to 600bhp.

However the car remains in its classic yellow Jordan colours. According to operator TrackDays, it is the only example of a Jordan EJ12 in drive-able condition. Packages start at £999 for a five-hour training and driving session, culminating in 10 laps in the F1 chassis – not cheap, but the chassis is estimated to be worth around £250,000.

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Comment of the day

After Zak Brown’s frank assessment of how close the third-to-seventh-placed teams are likely to be next year, Balue highlights two multiple-time world champions, both ex-Ferrari, who will be in the seats that were fighting for third last season…

I like how he makes it out like it’s all about drivers. Even if it would be good PR talk, it’s almost close to reality and that’s frankly very exciting and ideally how F1 should be.

His point is on driver pairings and feels he has perhaps the strongest, and that’s quite some measure of Norris when Ricciardo is already a known quantity.

Again, the fight for third will be undoubtedly be the highlight of the year as it was last. And the Vettel–Alonso battle will be something.
@Balue

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On this day in F1

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Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....
Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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30 comments on “Ex-Sato 2002 Jordan F1 car offered for track day drivers”

  1. Love those 90’s/2000’s cars.
    Apart from the messy stuck-on winglets at the back and the ugly new bulge in the engine cover, they are exactly what an F1 car should look like.
    Clean, simple, small, light and just a little bit crazy.

    I wouldn’t mind a drive, but that’s way too expensive.

    1. Dean Franklin
      8th January 2021, 3:26

      I think it’s a bargain for a once in a life opportunity especially as an F1 fan.

      1. Matthew Richard Bees
        8th January 2021, 8:31

        I can vouch for anyone wanting to give it a go! I drove a Prost AP04 (2001 season) at Barcelona – it was amazing!!

      2. I agree I think its a bargain.

      3. Indeed, but they did ruin the car, not a memorable car but still, history.

    2. The cost isn’t the issue here, whilst expensive on paper you do get a genuine once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You pay the same for a one way ticket to Australia.

      What I would be more interesting are if there are any minimum fitness requirements that you need to meet. 10 laps in a F1 car (whilst de-rated to 609bhp) will be a physical workout beyond most people.

      1. @chimaera2003 I’m not sure how they will do it but it would make sense to do two 5 laps stints so no one breaks his/her neck.

      2. It’d have Avon’s hardest tyre compound on it and they’d never get up to any useful temperature – there’d be hardly any real forces going on. Also almost certainly speed limited too.
        Cheaper than Puresport’s Arrows, but it depends on what the package entails.

        It’d still be fun, but personally I’d rather drive something different that I can really get stuck in to.

    3. Not sure if anyone here has ever done a track experience at the Bedford aerodrome, I have done it in a Ferrari 458 challenge car and you could hardly open that up, let alone an F1 car. Better off paying more to go to a proper circuit.

  2. Jordan always produced good looking clean cars with distinctive liveries. Jordan 197 is a good example (image).

    1. @pinakghosh Yes mostly true. But their ’94 and ’95 cars are up there as the worst liveried F1 cars of all time haha

      1. Not the worst when seen beside Tyrell 22.

      2. You’re kidding, right?? The Jordan 194 is one of the best looking F1 cars of all time.

        https://www.racedepartment.com/attachments/screenshot_acfl_1994_jordan_laguna_seca_22-9-118-0-28-17-jpg.270591/

        1. It just feels a bit confused. Red, blue, turquoise, white, green, black… too many colours! But let’s agree it’s a lot better than the 95 Jordan which was a complete mess (although the shape of the car is pretty).

          1. Agreed re: 1995!

        2. Maybe on a videogame.

    2. Ah, I remember that 97 Jordan very fondly. I had the beautiful lowly job of polishing it during a couple of tests! I loved the way the letters B and H were subtly reflected in the eyes of the snake.

  3. That’s not a bad prize for such an experience. Us hardcore F1 fans would enjoy it so much it’d feel like a bargain.

    I personally would do it immediately if I lived in the UK. The worrying thing tho, as it happened to me when I drove a Ferrari 430 at Montmelo, is that experiencing that and knowing that you can have it makes you kind of sad… Because now you know how it feels but you cannot do it. I enjoyed those 3 fast laps so much that came back home full of adrenaline but depressed that I couldn’t do it more often…!

    1. I feel the opposite: driving a slow car like a retard is more fun than having a super fast car that you’re super afraid of throwing in the barriers at every corner

    2. Looks expensive but it’s really a bargain. I would do it as well if I lived in the UK. Maybe I’ll schedule a trip if this continues for a few years.

      There is (or was) a similar programme at Paul Richard with a ~2012 Renault but it’s much more expensive at around 4000€ if memory serves me.

  4. Hakk the Rack
    8th January 2021, 7:59

    My eye tells me it’s a 2003 Fisichella’s and Firman’s Jordan.

  5. That’s actually pretty cheap and affordable (if it covers every basic cost). For less than average European monthly salary you get to train for and drive an F1 car, even if not with its original engine (that would be tuned down anyway). Hundreds of millions of people can afford this and its a story to tell your grandchildren about.

  6. Re Formula E Accelerate: Interesting to see how Formula E’s eSports series will be.

  7. Lewisham Milton
    8th January 2021, 11:54

    Any careful owners?

  8. shame the “F1 Car experience” is on a go kart track!

  9. If its ok Ive got a link to the 2002 Jordan during an engine demo from 2015, its takes a minute before it really lets rip, its hard to describe how loud it was but you’re notice at one point it actually rattles the camera.

    1. Doh, the link didnt appear in my first comment

      https://youtu.be/zEW9dm-AGMU

  10. one thousand for 10 laps in a F1? that’s not nearly enough, something doesn’t add up. you pay about half of that to do about 10 laps with a 2005 Formula Renault 2.0 at a track like Monza. usually for a F1 you need to leave behind at least a couple of 1000s for about half the number of laps. I know the engine is not the original V10, but still.

  11. It’s funny that Jordan is most often depicted as a colorful also ran when they were actually very competitive and often the third fastest on pure pace. They had a lot more bad luck than good (people often think of their Belgian 1-2 in terms of luck). Additionally, they were competitive right out of the box. A team like that could not exist today. Another team that was competitive but now only remembered as a hopeless “F1 minnow” was Minardi. Pre-Stoddart days, they were seriously fast at some points and got podiums.

  12. this car should run in BOSSGP series.

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