Lotus welcomes its first release

Lotus Racing is, of the four new teams in F1, the second to take the track. First observation, Tony Fernandes' team had a better debut than Virgin Racing. Last week, in Jerez, Virgin was only able to run its VR24 01 laps in three days. This week, still in Jerez, Lotus has already completed 76 laps.

Fairuz Fauzy, test and reserve driver, was the first driver to take the Lotus T127 to the track. After 76 laps, the Malaysian driver was able to complete the 300 kilometers at the wheel of an F1, allowing him to be eligible to obtain the Super License. “ I have to thank the team, affirms Fauzy. To arrive here and compete 76 laps is fabulous. It was quite a challenge, firstly to cover the 300 km I needed for the Super License, then because of the lack of power steering. It was difficult to ride in the dry, it wasn't too bad in the wet, so I rode carefully, but I'm very happy. »

For his part, Mike Gascoyne, technical director of the team, is very happy with this first day. “ It was a very good day for the whole team. Fairuz did an excellent job during this first day of driving. The day was probably disjointed from his point of view. With all the systems to check, the changing conditions, the loss of power steering, it was a tricky day for him. But he made no mistake, congratulations to him. »