F1 team Jordan's engine switch for 2003 means they will not be building an interim car for end-of-season testing.

The team are switching from Honda engines to Ford and the Cosworth engine will not fit into the 2002 EJ12.

Jordan, who finished the season sixth overall, confirmed they would not be building an interim model to accommodate it.

But they insist their preparations for the new season will not suffer as a consequence.

Henri Durand, Jordan's director of design and development, said, "We have created a brand new design concept for the EJ13.

Impractical

"In addition, the Ford Cosworth engine is comprehensively different from the Honda we used this year, so there will have to be an entirely new chassis and a new gearbox before we can run it.

"When you have a radically different package, it's irrelevant and impractical to build an interim car - something that is only done when you are keeping the basic ingredients the same."

"Also, teams generally build an interim car to test an engine which has got some risk of not performing adequately or reliably.

"We are totally confident that the Ford Cosworth engine we have next year will be one of the best on the grid and one of the most reliable.

Durand added: "Since June we have been planning a mid-January launch and to date everything is on schedule."