SEPTEMBER 6, 2005

Davidson to test for Jordan

Anthony Davidson has stuck doggedly to his goal of becoming a Formula 1 driver and having been unable to break into F1 via the test driver route, he has decided that rather than heading off to America to try to get back to F1 via Champ Cars or IRL, he will have a try with a small F1 team and hope that the car does not ruin his career. It is a route which is fraught with dangers but one which could pay off, as it did for Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and others who began their careers at the back of the grid and did enough to convince the big teams that they should be moved up the grid.

Davidson has been a BAR test driver since 2001 and has not raced regularly since leaving Formula 3 at the end of that year. In 2002 he did two races with Minardi when the team decided it needed to "rest" Alex Yoong and he did a good solid job but not enough to get the phone ringing. His testing performances did attract the attention of Williams at the end of 2004 but contractual problems meant that he could not take up the offer of a test and so stayed with BAR in 2005. Now it seems BAR's attitude is different. With Rubens Barrichello, Takuma Sato and Nick Heidfeld all floating about the team does not have room to consider Davidson for a race deal next year and so Anthony may simply leave and go to race for Jordan.

It is not perfect but it is the best job available and with Toyota engines there might be a chance to do something good in 2006 even if the team owner of Jordan is not investing in the team as he should be doing.

Davidson is scheduled to test for Jordan on September 13 to see how the car is. He will make a decision after that.