Nationality British Team Jordan Grand Prix Car Jordan Ford EJ13 Director of Race Engineering Gary Anderson
STATS	2003	CAREER
Rank	20	20*
Wins	0	0
Podiums	0	0
Top 8	1	1
Best finish	8	8
DNFs	6	6
*Indicates career best points finish

2003 recap
The good: Getting a break in F1, which is a difficult thing to do no matter who you are. Ralph Firman showed he had talent when he won the 1996 British F3 championship, but was somewhat in the wilderness after six seasons in the Japanese Formula Nippon (F3000) series. He won the title in Japan in 2002. Moving up to F1 in 2003, he did a pretty good job given the lack of testing and budget.

The bad: Firman had a massive accident, due to a rear wing failure, during practice in Hungary. While he was basically OK, he had to sit out two races because of a concussion. The Jordan team lacked the money to go testing or develop the car. The car suffered several scary suspension failures.

Key stat: Ensured a place in the F1 record books by scoring a point with an eighth place in the Spanish Grand Prix.

2004 outlook
Pretty bleak. A lot of drivers, some of whom can bring a lot of bucks with them, are gunning for the two Jordan seats. Firman has talent but it doesn't come with a rich sponsor.

What needs to be done: Sit and wait while the wheeling and dealing for the two Jordan drives goes on, and hope that Eddie Jordan retains him for 2004.

Key change: Gary Anderson, the team's director of race and test engineering, is going into semi-retirement. He was a key man in the formation of the Jordan F1 team in 1991 before heading off to other F1 gigs. He rejoined Jordan but now wants a reduced role. James Robinson, who has held senior engineering management roles at BAR, Williams and McLaren, replaces Anderson.

Prediction: Getting that second crack at F1 is going to be tough for Firman.

Did you know: His father Ralph Firman Sr. founded the Van Diemen racing car company in 1973. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher are just two of the legions of drivers who have won races in Van Dieman Formula Fords. Don Panoz bought the company in 2002.

Your take
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