Red Bull sign their drivers...
Red Bull Racing have confirmed their driver line-up for Season 6: current Super Aguri team mates Jamez Shepherd and Jessica Weiland.
Red Bulls sporting director Christian Horner said: "Jessica is extremely fit, has very good race pace, rarely makes a mistake and brings us a very technically competent, polished and consistant package. Jamez is also very competetive, a super-quick driver, sometimes a little bit raw and wild in his style, but he's a proven podium finisher."
Shepherd said of his appointment: "My aim has always been to have a career in in F1. Both Jessica and I have the hopes of a nation behind us so we have no choice no but to succeed."
The two drivers will continue there current roles at Super Aguri until the end of the season, as Jessica stated: "We feel very comfortable here at Aguri, we both work well together and it shows in our results. But at the same time we are very excited to have a chance with Red Bull, they're a proven race winner (Butler, Malaysia) with a lot of potential to become very competetive throught the season."
Jessica, still only 14, not yet old enough to hold a standard drivers licence, is a great prospect for F1, she has shown a very competetive gritty edge against the leading drivers, and isn't scared to get rough. With youth on her side she has a long career in front of her. Could this be the start of a career leading to F1's first female World Champion?
[Recent interview with F1 magazine]
You wont get much, however, if you chat to Jamez. He'll roll up in his white Super Aguri jacket, all right, and he'll talk about MotoGP or rallying or soccer or even Surfers Paradise - his holiday spot over this past winter: what he won't do is behave like the other guys. He won't talk about F1 in any sort of detail. He doesn't want to. He doesn't need to. What he wants to do - you are reminded for the hundredth time since you first saw him drive (Bahrain, Pole Position) - is conduct an F1 car very quickly and very well. End of story.
He's now out of the Super Aguri SA05-01, however, and appears to be open to questions. The journos, mainly Australians, crowd around him.
"But Jamez - what about Jessica? Are you worried about her? Are you expecting a season long battle?"
He displays a flicker of emotion.
"Why do you guys always talk about a battle?" he asks, keeping the tone cool but emphasising his point with a quick stare. "There are plenty of drivers I need to beat, Jessica is only one of them. It's always the same. That's what racing is all about."
Simple. Logical. And very much a statement in itself. In other words, no more stupid questions, please.
Is this a new Jamez Shepherd, cooler, calmer... more ready?
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Edit: Story partly manufactured from multiple F1 Racing magazine interviews.
), and then...
(yes, I'm having too much fun with those today)
