JULY 19, 1999

Hill to go on racing

DAMON HILL's indecision about his future was somewhat overshadowed by the events following Michael Schumacher's accident at Silverstone but on Wednesday the former World Champion announced that he is going to continue racing for the Jordan team until the end of the year - as he had originally planned to do.

DAMON HILL's indecision about his future was somewhat overshadowed by the events following Michael Schumacher's accident at Silverstone but on Wednesday the former World Champion announced that he is going to continue racing for the Jordan team until the end of the year - as he had originally planned to do.

It had been announced that Hill would stop racing after Silverstone but a good result convinced Damon to continue racing. The news was greeted with mixed feeling at Jordan which is desperate to get good results to finish as high up as possible in the Constructors' World Championship. The team is currently lying in a safe third place with 31 points (26 of which have been scored by Heinz-Harald Frentzen and five by Hill). It will take a major effort to catch up with McLaren (64 points) and FerrariÊ(62pts), although the real threat to Jordan is Williams, which is fourth in the battle with 19 points.

Hill said that his good showing at Silverstone had rekindled his enthusiasm and his desire to keep racing. The team is hoping that Damon will keep up his motivation but at the same time is saved from having to find a replacement, which was proving to be a major headache because there are not many good drivers available at the moment. The team will face the same problem at the end of the season when Hill does retire but his decision to delay his departure should make life easier as more drivers will be available. The team has talked to Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli. There have also been discussions about Formula 3000 driver Nick Heidfeld.