Narain does 80 laps testing

Narain Karthikeyan proved his F1 mettle on the opening day of testing, clocking a time of one minute, 19.09 seconds at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

Narain completed 80 laps in his EJ15 and his best lap time was only 2.5 seconds off the pace of world champion Michael Schumacher as Jordan Grand Prix began a two car test with Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro on Tuesday.

Monteiro added 86 laps to the test mileage in a development EJ14 chassis.

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"I did 80 laps which is the most I ever did in one day in a Formula 1 car. It was pretty exciting. But I also understand that I have to learn very much in a very short time. And I am prepared for it," Karthikeyan said after the first of the four days of practice.

Jordan's Sporting Director Trevor Carlin seemed quite pleased with the performance of the two rookie F1 drivers.

"It was the first day of our full test programme and we did very well. Narain did 80 laps in the EJ15 while Tiago worked on some software," Carlin said.

"In the next couple of days we want to do as many miles as possible to better understand the interaction of chassis, Toyota engine and Bridgestone tyres.

"Obviously we have a lot of work still ahead but I am very confident that we will improve dramatically and find ourselves in the position were we want to be on the Melbourne grid," he said.

Unofficial times
1. F. Alonso (Renault) 1:14.99
2. J. Montoya (McLaren) 1:15.22
3. R. Zonta (Toyota) 1:15.37
4. K. Raikkonen (McLaren) 1:15.40
5. G. Fisichella (Renault) 1:15.64
6. D. Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:15.71
7. V. Liuzzi (Red Bull) 1:16.14
8. M. Webber (Williams) 1:16.50
9. J. Trulli (Toyota) 1:16.55
10. M. Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:16.63
11. A. Pizzonia (Williams) 1:16.72
12. N. Karthikeyan (Jordan) 1:19.09
13. T. Monteiro (Jordan) 1:22.07.