A dream start for Lotus Racing in Bahrain

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Six months of very hard work finally came to as successful a conclusion as the team could have hoped for on Sunday afternoon in Bahrain, with both Lotus Racing cars finishing the race, Heikki in 15th and Jarno in 17th (provisional positions) in the opening round of the 2010 Formula One™ World Championship.

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix 2010 Virgin Racing Torro Rosso

Jarno Trulli (Lotus Racing chassis T127/3) “I made a good start and avoided the accident at the second corner but found myself in the gravel so at this stage I was nearly last, but then I started picking up pace and catching the people in front. The car was understeering quite a lot and I couldn’t really predict the balance so at the pitstop the team, who did a really good job, changed the front wing setting and I started pushing again and putting in some good laps. At the end of the race I had a hydraulic problem so I just had to get it to the end of the race. I’m really happy and proud for the team because in six months every single target we have fixed we have met so it’s really good, and, as Tony said, one day Lotus will win and I hope to be here when we do.”

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Racing chassis T127/1) “It was a good race for our team – to get both cars to the finish is a great achievement. My car didn’t have a single problem, I know Jarno did and managed to nurse his car to the end, but the primary goal was to get both cars to the end and we achieved that. So far the team has reached every goal we set ourselves so that is fantastic. In terms of my race, I had a good start and was battling with a lot of guys we didn’t think we’d be fighting with. My tyres were fine, and the pitstop was good, but I lost a bit of time whilst letting cars past, and we’ll look at the strategy for Australia to work around that better. I really enjoyed driving the car, it felt really good and it was good to push. Everybody in the team should be really happy but now the honeymoon is over and we need to start working on better results.”

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne said “I’m very very proud of the whole team. Everyone here, and back in Hingham. Firstly I have to say thank you to both drivers. They drove great races – Jarno struggling early on but when he changed to the soft tyre he was much more competitive. Apologies to Heikki because he may have suffered from the strategy, and apologies to Jarno because he had a hydraulics problem and he had to slow down to get the car to the finish, but overall a great result.”

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Happiest man of all was Team Principal who said “I’m completely over the moon! I cannot describe the feeling. Six months of work and to have both cars finish is just unbelievable. We’re thrilled, we’re happy and the spirit in the team is fantastic. I’m really proud of Jarno and of Heikki and everyone here. It’s a great start and better than I could have dreamt of. We wanted to finish the race and to do so ahead of established teams is fantastic.

“From here we keep going. Before the race Clive Chapman gave me Colin Chapman’s old Lotus cap and said ‘when you win the first race you’ll be the man to throw this up in the air like my Dad used to.’ That meant a lot to me, it was a wonderful gesture and it’s like handing over the mantle of one of motor racing’s great dynasties”

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix 2010 Pit Stop

Visitors to the Lotus Racing garage before the race included FIA President Jean Todt and Michelle Yeoh, but the day began with Tony Fernandes giving the team a stirring speech to thank everyone for the hard work so far, and lay out the challenge ahead, saying “The last six months have shown that if you dream you can achieve, but now it’s not about being the best of the new teams, it’s about making a serious challenge for the very top.” With a start like this, who could blame him for pushing for something truly amazing.

[press release from Lotus Racing]

Lotus Racing Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying Report

Lotus Racing T127 Bahrain Grand Prix F1 2010 lockup

Saturday in Bahrain saw Lotus Racing compete for the first time in qualifying with a host of famous faces dropping by and watching the action from the team’s pit and hospitality suite, among them former Lotus stars Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell. Qualifying itself was much as the team had anticipated, with Jarno Trulli finishing 20th on 1.59.852 and Heikki Kovalainen 21st on 2.00.313.

Both drivers gave their thoughts after the session, with Jarno saying: “All in all not too bad considering the amount of running we had this morning. We had some bad luck this weekend but the team has operated very well, in a very professional way, and we just need a bit more time to make the step forward we need in terms of performance. Tomorrow we need to try and finish the race, collect some useful data to find out more about what is right and wrong with the way the car behaves, and make that our main aim – finishing.”

Heikki Kovalainen added “Pretty much what we expected. The car was very reliable, which is good, and the performance was roughly where we knew we’d be. I’m reasonably happy – it probably isn’t the best qualifying lap I’ve ever done, and maybe I didn’t get everything out of it I should have done, but we have a good base to work from tomorrow. In practice yesterday the car felt like it would be good over long runs, and with the good reliability we have had we’ll see what happens tomorrow. The most important thing is to finish the race, and then we’ll see where we are.”

Mike Gascoyne, Lotus Racing Chief Technical Officer commented: “It’s a little bit mixed emotions today – we wanted to be the best of the new teams, and we just missed out on that by a fraction, but as the last of the new teams to have been given an entry, only six months ago, it’s a fantastic effort by the whole team to have finished our first qualifying session. We now look forward to the race and with the strength of our reliability, and two very experienced race drivers, now it’s all about finishing.”

Having arrived yesterday, Team Principal Tony Fernandes was at the track and was very proud to see the incredible efforts of everyone in the team over the last six months finally taking shape, saying “I’m happy, very very happy. It was fantastic to see Lotus back on the grid after a 16 year absence, and with the potential for so many things to have gone wrong, it’s just great to have finished our first qualifying session. Jarno broke the two minute mark and that’s a great achievement in itself.”

Giving his thoughts on the motor racing giants that came by the Lotus Racing garage, he added “It was great to see Emerson, Mario and Nigel today. It shows we have credibility and it’s a great endorsement from these legends that they see what we’re doing and, in whatever way, want to be a part of it. The dream continues and long may it last!”

[Press release from Lotus Racing]

Lotus returns to F1 at Bahrain Practice

Lotus F1 T127 Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Friday at the Bahrain Grand Prix marked an historic day for Lotus Racing, exactly six months to the day since the team’s entry into the 2010 Formula One™ World Championship was confirmed. Jarno Trulli was first car on track as the pit lane lights turned green, followed closely by Heikki Kovalainen as the team saw their incredible efforts since September 12th 2009 come to fruition in the desert heat.

Lotus F1 T127 Bahrain practice

The morning session saw the team complete 36 laps in total, with both Heikki (21 laps) and Jarno (15 laps) completing their planned programs and stepping out of their respective cars satisfied with their morning’s work. As track temperatures climbed to nearly 50° after lunch they both returned to work, Jarno notching up another 14 laps and Heikki 23 more and testing aero upgrades that had been fitted over the lunch break. Heikki’s best time of the afternoon session was 2.00.873 and Jarno 2.00.990.

Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne gave his thoughts on the team’s first outing of the race season, saying “A good day for the team after a very long night preparing the cars for today. Everyone worked very hard and it was satisfying to see us first out on track and then put in a solid performance throughout the day. We tried an aero upgrade this afternoon and we’ll look at the results of that in this afternoon’s debrief, but now we’re looking forward to putting in another professional performance tomorrow in qualifying.”

Thoughts now turn to tomorrow’s qualifying session and the forthcoming race, with Team Principal Tony Fernandes arriving in Bahrain to add his support to the Lotus Racing team’s efforts on track.

Lotus F1 Racing heads to Bahrain

Lotus T127

By 3am on Saturday morning Lotus Racing had finally finished packing up the six airfreight boxes needed for the journey to Bahrain and the beginning of the 2010 Formula One™ season. Two cars and a 60-strong team have now made their way to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Bahrain International Circuit for the first race of much anticipated 2010 season.

On 12th September 2009 Lotus Racing gained entry onto the grid. As the team gears up for the first Grand Prix, the whole team, including the drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, remain upbeat and honest about their expectations for the first few races. Trulli commented, “It would be nice to score a point, but it is not going to be easy. We have to be realistic.”

Chief Technical Officer, Mike Gascoyne said, “Our test season was extremely productive – in general we’ve had very good reliability, and the team is in very good shape going to the first race.”

Lotus Racing remain confident of their continuing progress. Team Principle Tony Fernandes commented, “We are all looking forward to Bahrain; to have Lotus Racing on the grid will be a momentous occasion for all involved and, indeed, for our fans, whose support has been absolutely fantastic since we launched just under six months ago. Yes we are a little slower than the major leading teams, however we will get there, with passion, hard work and a clear vision – our aim for this first Grand Prix will be to finish and steadily but surely improve, race by race.”

Lotus Racing will spend the week preparing in Bahrain and look forward to hitting the track in anger for the first practice session on Friday, exactly six months to the day after gaining their entry place into 2010 Formula One™ World Championship.

[press release from Lotus Racing]