rpm.espn.com: Eddie Irvine

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Thursday, December 27

Eddie Irvine
ESPN.com

Team: Jaguar
Nationality: Northern Ireland

Eddie Irvine
Irvine

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Podium
Best finish

2001 12 0 0 1 3rd, Monaco

Career 4 0 25 1st, Four times

2001 Recap
The Good: Veteran driver Eddie Irvine kept the struggling Jaguar team afloat. He scored seven points, which wasn't shabby considering his car's poor performance.

Season Highlight: Irvine claimed Jaguar's first ever podium finish by taking advantage of others' misfortune and finishing third at Monaco.

The Bad: The outspoken Irvine ran fairly well -- when he was running. Accidents and mechanical demons hounded Irvine throughout the year. There was also a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding Jaguar, and the ousting of Bobby Rahal in favor of Niki Lauda. Oh, and Irvine had trouble out-qualifying his new young teammate, Pedro de la Rosa.

Season Lowlight: Irvine was involved in a serious accident in the Belgian Grand Prix, which left Prost's Luciano Burti hospitalized and out for the remainder of the season.

Eddie Irvine
Veteran Eddie Irvine had a strong season for Jaguar, posting a season-best third-place effort at Monaco.

Key Stat: Irvine had trouble finishing races in 2001. He was running at the end of just six of 17 races last season.

2002 Outlook
What needs to be done: Jaguar needs to get its house in order. On-track performance should be its primary focus, not shop politics. The British brand needs to focus on reliability and make sure Irvine has a piece capable making it to the checkered flag.

Prediction: Irvine will improve if his car does. A capable driver, he needs to stay focused in 2002 if he expects to out-perform de la Rosa. Our guess? De la Rosa will make Irvine look old on Saturdays, but Irvine will continue to be Jaguar's top gun on race day.

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