Formula One: Toyota Deal Secures Jordan's Survival
Jordan are ' 99% certain' of being on the grid in Australia next year after agreeing a deal to use Toyota engines.
The future of the Jordan formula one team has almost certainly been secured by a deal to use Toyota engines in the 2005 world championship.
It is expected that Toyota's 23-year-old test driver Ryan Briscoe will pilot one of the new Jordan EJ-15s next season, but the team have not settled on a second driver.
"Things are looking much more optimistic and we are now 99% certain that we will be on the grid for the Australian grand prix at Melbourne next March," said Ian Phillips, Jordan's commercial director. "It has been a nerve-racking past few weeks but we're now looking forward to the future."
However, the Jaguar team, who are based in Milton Keynes, may yet be sold or forced to close their doors with the loss of more than 200 jobs.
There was speculation before the Brazilian grand prix last weekend that Eddie Jordan might have to shut down his team within weeks if he did not secure an alternative engine supply deal, after Ford announced last month that it was withdrawing from formula one after putting the Jaguar team and the Cosworth engine-builders up for sale.
Instead, Toyota has indicated that it could supply engines to Jordan for less than the $10m (£5.5m) fee charged by Cosworth this year.
Briscoe, an Australian, won last year's European formula three championship, beating the sometime Jordan driver Timo Glock and Christian Klien, the Austrian who partnered Mark Webber for Jaguar this season.
It is expected that Toyota's 23-year-old test driver Ryan Briscoe will pilot one of the new Jordan EJ-15s next season, but the team have not settled on a second driver.
"Things are looking much more optimistic and we are now 99% certain that we will be on the grid for the Australian grand prix at Melbourne next March," said Ian Phillips, Jordan's commercial director. "It has been a nerve-racking past few weeks but we're now looking forward to the future."
However, the Jaguar team, who are based in Milton Keynes, may yet be sold or forced to close their doors with the loss of more than 200 jobs.
There was speculation before the Brazilian grand prix last weekend that Eddie Jordan might have to shut down his team within weeks if he did not secure an alternative engine supply deal, after Ford announced last month that it was withdrawing from formula one after putting the Jaguar team and the Cosworth engine-builders up for sale.
Instead, Toyota has indicated that it could supply engines to Jordan for less than the $10m (£5.5m) fee charged by Cosworth this year.
Briscoe, an Australian, won last year's European formula three championship, beating the sometime Jordan driver Timo Glock and Christian Klien, the Austrian who partnered Mark Webber for Jaguar this season.
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