May 01, 2004
At the fourth GP of the season, EIRE-Jaguar is striking upon the San Marino circuit. Qualification went fine for EIRE in the case of Whiteman, 2nd on the grid. Loram qualified with a lot of fuel onboard and could only manage a 16th starting position for the Imola Grand Prix.

Loram about his qualification: "The 2.2sec gap to Scott is the reason of a combination of factors really. Scott is a great driver and is simply faster than me but I am also carrying a significant amount more fuel than pretty much the rest of the grid I imagine so there should be some time there. Also this is one of my least favourite tracks so i never expected to be quick here - although it's still disspaointing to be starting from 16th - however the race is important and i'll be up for it."

Ross Loram about fact that many people say that he is not worth driving for EIRE:

"I poke at them with a stick (laughing) no - i don't really care what people say. When Willy offered me the drive I made it quite clear to him what my pace was and he is okay with it so I'm happy to be here. Obviously I'd like to be faster and I'm always working hard trying to get closer to Scott and the other chaps up front. I think I will be able to finish in the top 8 here. I always believe that or I wouldn't be here. I was looking to do a 2 stop strategy during the race as I didn't feel any major drop off in performance with the extra fuel on board. Obviously now I see how slow I am compared to the other chaps I will re-assess the strategy situation and possibly just change it a little to juust do a long first stint. Either way once I find the fastest strategy for me and fine tune my diff / brake and controller settings I'll be trying really hard to score mor e points."

Whiteman about his position on the grid: "Well I qualified 3rd in Australia so this qualification doesn't have to mean anything. Elencevski is undoubtedly a great driver and will definately challenge in the race." His predictions about the race: "I'm no psycic, but I think that barring any failures it will be tightly contested at the top with some great battles." At the question what his strategie will be during the race he answered: "Can't tell you that, sorry. I can only tell you that it is plain and simple: pushing hard all the way (smiling)."

After the qualification press conference we spoke to Willy Ponissi, EIRE Teamboss, about his feelings about his team: "Of course, I can't be anything but happy about the team. I mean the guys are working superbly and 3 wins in 3 races is more than we could think! I know we won't be able to win every race, but obviously we try our best every time we get on track!"

His reaction to the rumours about Ross Loram not being replaced if he would not be able to keep up with Whiteman: "Ross is a talented driver, and surely he will improve come raceday. Imola isn't his best track but we can't be fast everywhere? And don't forget that the grid is really close. And the rumours about Loram being replaced during this season are total nonsence unless he has some serious problems forcing him to pullout, or he chooses to withdraw, he won't be replaced. And this applies to every EIRE driver. Whatever will happen, we have got p lenty of drivers to replace everyone. Peter Grooff is a fast and committed driver, and we also own Andreas Wagner. Ross is in no discussion."

Only raceday will tell us more about the outcome of this GP!