Andrea de Cesaris: Encyclopedia II - Andrea de Cesaris - 1991 Jordan

Andrea de Cesaris - 1991 Jordan

It seems after a decade of erratic endeavour that the writing was finally on the wall for Andrea de Cesaris. Dumped for JJ Lehto at Dallara, he was signed by Eddie Jordan for his first season in Formula One. Always a talent spotter, Jordan had run de Cesaris in Formula 3, but was typically direct in his reason for signing the Italian: experience and Marlboro money.

The Jordan 191 was one of the most striking and attractive cars seen in Formula One. It's beauty was complimented by its mechanical simplicity and speed. Sadly at the season's first race in Phoenix de Cesaris selected the wrong gear in the short pre-qualifying session, buzzed the engine and was out.

But that result was no indication of what was to come. de Cesaris was again strong at Monaco, forcing his way past the Benetton of Roberto Moreno and was running in the points when the Jordan's throttle cable snapped.

In the next race in Canada he delivered finishing a strong fourth. de Cesaris then rebuffed anyone who thought this was a fluke by repeating the result next time out in Mexico. The following race in France he finished sixth. Suspension failure in Great Britain led to a massive crash but the Italian bounced back to take qualify seventh and finish fifth in Germany.

His speed had never been in doubt, but de Cesaris was now driving with his head much more than his heart, and a restraint that had been missing during much of his first ten years in Formula One. A fast and friendly car helped, but Andrea's maturity behind the wheel was now in no doubt.

His day of days came during the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Franchorchamps. The Belgian circuit is widely recognised as the greatest test of driver skill in modern racing. It was a place de Cesaris has always excelled. Despite the pressure of being outqualified by debutant team-mate Micheal Schumacher de Cesaris was on a mission all weekend. While Schumacher's inexperience resulted in a burned out clutch on lap one, de Cesaris moved through the field to take second position. He was catching Ayrton Senna for victory when his car's Ford HB V8 blew. A communication problem between Ford and the Jordan team meant the oil tank in the car was too small to service a new type of piston ring which used less more lubricant. Even so, the point was made: de Cesaris had finally arrived.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1991 Jordan", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki