Geraldo Rodrigues says his driver will contest all of the final six races of the year for the Honda-engined team - and he will also hope to do better than Frentzen�s tally of six points from ten races.
"I cannot talk about the contract but Ricardo will replace Frentzen from now until the end of the season and if he does okay he would love to race next year," he said. "Jordan obviously believe he has done a good job in testing and maybe they feel he can do a better job than Frentzen. They started talking a couple of weeks ago, and they were asking us to be ready.
"We were told this morning (Wednesday). We were just asked to replace Heinz and we did not ask any more - that is an internal problem for them.

"My feeling is that they (Jordan) have been trying to help him become quicker in the races. They did not just kick him out, but I do not know what happened in the end."

However, Rodrigues is being realistic about Ricardo�s prospects. "Formula One is a tough business, and there is a lot of pressure," he said. "We are not expecting to get pole position or anything like that. He will just try and get points."

More time in the car, especially in qualifying and race trim, is now vital according to Rodrigues. "Ricardo wants to drive as much as possible," he said. "He has never had a chance to have a fast test, he has had a half day in Monza but normally he has to run a heavy car. I don't think he has to be quicker than Trulli because Trulli is in very good shape."

It is unlikely that Jordan will deny or confirm this agreement until the young Brazilian's performance at Hockenheim has been analyzed.