The Belgian Grand Prix has, more often than not, been the high point of the Formula One season for Eddie Jordan and yesterday's opening day of practice at Spa Francochamps - which saw Damon Hill fourth and Ralf Schumacher ninth - bodes well for the Irish team this time around also.

The Jordans set their times during a damp afternoon session where Michael Schumacher barely pipped Mika Hakkinen to be quickest around the treacherous four-mile track. Jacques Villeneuve was lucky to walk away from a 180 mph crash at Eau Rouge which left his Williams suitable only for the scrap heap. "I don't know what it is about Spa, but we always seem to get a rub of the green here," said Eddie Jordan after the two one-hour sessions were over. It started in 1991 when an unknown German 21-year-old planted the gorgeous green Jordan 191 in fifth place on the grid. Michael Schumacher's debut didn't last long, but Andrea De Cesaris took up the mantle and got his Jordan to within sight of race leader Ayrton Senna, only to see his engine seize five laps from the flag. In 1994 Barrichello took the team's first (and only) pole position here and last year Giancarlo Fisichella finished second - the team's best result to date. Jordan wants another strong finish from his team tomorrow.

"In the past we have built good cars but we have not had the budget to keep up the development through the season. This year it's different," said Jordan. "We were in dire straits in the first half of the season. No points in eight races and then we finish in the top six in the last four races." Jordan explained how the progress has been made: "It's not one item. It's not down to Mike Gascoyne joining, or the improved Goodyears or getting a better engine from Mugen Honda. It is a combination of these and an awful lot of hard work by everyone in the team." The team have made over 80 changes to the car since Monaco in May - the low point of the year. As regards drivers for next year, Jordan claims still to want Ralf Schumacher but far more likely is that he will end up getting compensated for freeing the German and start serious discussions with Tora Takagi - if he can persuade Honda to back his team now that the Japanese car maker has postponed their "go it alone" F1 project by a year. Eddie Irvine proved his wet weather talent around the historic Belgian track. The Ulsterman was fifth in the morning and seventh in the afternoon session. "It's tricky here. It's easy to go off especially when it's wet. It could be a wet race and that will suit us," he said.

Belgian Grand Prix (at SpaFrancorchamps): Unofficial practice: 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1 min 51.895 secs, 2 M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:51.906, 3 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren-Mercedes 1:52.629, 4 D Hill (Brit) Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:53.286, 5 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Williams 1:53.534, 6 J Villeneuve (Can) Williams 1:53.589, 7 E Irvine (Brit) Ferrari 1:53.601, 8 J Alesi (Fra) Sauber 1:53.660, 9 R Schumacher (Ger) Jor- dan 1:54.116, 10 J Herbert (Brit) Sauber 1:54.130.