A useful day for Lotus
Hockenheim’s Friday practice sessions saw Lotus Racing’s reliability return as the Anglo / Malaysian squad ran a total of 115 laps with no major problems in the changeable German conditions. The team completed all their planned programmes for Jarno Trulli (car 18), Heikki Kovalainen (car 19) and Fairuz Fauzy, deputising for Heikki in FP1.
Fairuz Fauzy (Chassis T127-01) FP1: 27 laps, best time 1.30.938, 21st “First of all I was very happy to be back in the car. The conditions weren’t great, but that was the same for everyone, so we all had to deal with the fact it was pouring with rain, and then started drying out, then raining again. But I found myself getting more comfortable with every lap. Once I’d got the tyre temperatures up I could push, and the car was reliable throughout, so we got through the programme, which is obviously what we set out to do. I think I could have gone quicker still, but I’m pleased with my input today and can’t wait to get back in the car again!”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 17 laps, best time 1.29.280, 15th / FP2: 34 laps, 1.20.008, 20th “It was a positive day today. We put in a lot of laps in both sessions and I think the car is behaving pretty well here. The track’s improved throughout the day and after getting a decent amount of running in I’m confident we can deliver a good result tomorrow.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) FP2: 37 laps, 1.20.377, 22nd “The main thing today is that we have had good reliability all day, but it was a bit disappointing as I couldn’t find a good balance, so we’ve got work to do on that tomorrow.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A useful day for us with no real problems with either car. Jarno’s final run was brought to an early end with a small problem with his fuel pump, but apart from that it was a trouble free session. Fairuz did an excellent job this morning in the wet session, running well on both the full wets and the inters. Considering the limited running he’s had in the car he should be very pleased with his day’s work. In the afternoon we were able to work on the dry setup and I think we found a clear direction towards the end of the session and there’s definitely more performance to come tomorrow.”
Riad Asmat, Lotus Racing CEO: “Firstly it was good to see Fairuz put in a very good morning’s work in what were pretty tricky conditions. He did exactly what we asked of him and it’s great to see he got a decent run compared to the limited track time he had at Silverstone. We’ve got a fair amount to come tomorrow in terms of pace, and the team will work hard to build on the progress we’ve been making throughout the season, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
