Jeddah Corniche Circuit

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX

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May 02, 2002
It was an exciting day for the Coban-family. Both brothers would join the battle with each other for the first time. Insiders claimed that Erdem would be at least 2 seconds faster than Mehmet, but this was not the case.

After Coban stepped into his car and got instructions from his Team Manager Chris Connolly, he eagerly went out of the pits, for the first time in his life in a Formula 1 car.

How was the first time in a Formula 1 car?

"It was great", he smiled, "Because if you look at the speed and the acceleration you can see that the car was very good for me, I could handle it just fine.

Coban drove 30 laps, first a long stint of 18 laps, then shorter stints to try to push the car to its limit. Eventually he put a 1m23.486 on the clock, a time which was good enough to impress everybody at the track. Connolly was pleased: "Yes, I admit I was actually surprised he went as quick as he did, I told him to just be careful out there today, look after the car, and complete the necessary milege for the new parts we were testing. But he went out and did a bloody ripper of a time, I'm unsure how it compares to the other drivers as yet, but for this track, that's a great time."

The battle between the brothers was won by the youngest of them. He was delighted: "More than 2 seconds faster than my brother, not bad. I am very happy with this, but I am not aiming to beat my brother. My goal is to help the team. Next test is in Monza, and I will be ready for that."

Coban immediately took the plane to Paris, where he will spend his next days.