{"id":989,"date":"2010-04-02T06:42:34","date_gmt":"2010-04-02T14:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gglotus.org\/blog\/?p=989"},"modified":"2010-04-02T06:42:34","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T14:42:34","slug":"malaysian-grand-prix-friday-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gglotus.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/02\/malaysian-grand-prix-friday-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaysian Grand Prix Friday Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lotus<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday began with Mike Gascoyne’s birthday being celebrated in the garage before the action on track began in what is fast becoming Lotus Racing\u2019s signature style, with Fairuz Fauzy<\/a> in chassis T127-01 first out on track trying out a shark fin engine cover in the morning session.<\/p>\n

Whilst replacing Heikki Kovalainen for the session he completed 19 laps with a best time of 1.40.721 in a good run in the morning heat. Jarno Trulli completed 21 laps and finished ahead of the other new teams on 1.39.460.<\/p>\n

Before Fairuz saw the green light Tony lent into the cockpit to tell Fairuz how proud both he and the whole country was of this landmark moment. After the session was completed Tony said \u201cIt\u2019s just unbelievable! I woke up at 6am today as I couldn\u2019t sleep I was so excited. I\u2019m just really pleased to see Fairuz out there with Jarno and the rest of the household names that make up the grid.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that F1\u2122 gives the chance for developing teams and developing countries to come to the fore and grab this sort of opportunity. It shows that the combination of British and Malaysian skills can dare to dream of competing on a global level, and can do so in an innovative, fresh way. Fairuz is a lad who has climbed the motorsport ladder – from his local roots at the kart circuit his Father built in Kuala Lumpur, to being on track in F1\u2122 in a car built in the UK and competing all around the world. For me that\u2019s a very clear sign of how well our Anglo-Malaysian collaboration is working, and long may that continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fairuz himself said \u201cI feel very good, very motivated and this is really a special day for me as it\u2019s our home run. It\u2019s great to be back again. The last time I was in Barcelona, which is a long time ago! I\u2019ve always said that I\u2019ll be ready and fit, but it\u2019s still great that I was on the pace immediately. I\u2019m happy and I hope we can do well this weekend \u2013 the car feels great, and I think it\u2019s faster than it was in Melbourne. It\u2019s going to be an exciting weekend \u2013 in Malaysia, anything can happen! If it rains and we can get an advantage out of it, then that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

Jarno Trulli<\/a>: \u201cIt started off as a difficult day but I managed to do some good setup work and it was a positive two sessions. It seems we are competitive when compared to the other new teams but as we are ultimately aiming to fight with the top teams we are looking to get ourselves into a position where we can work on detailed setups, and that will start from Barcelona. I am pleased that today\u2019s sessions, when compared to the previous two races, both went faultlessly and I\u2019m very glad about that. I like the heat \u2013 I like racing in the heat as it tests fitness and I\u2019ve always performed well here, so I\u2019m looking forward to tomorrow and the race on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heikki Kovalainen<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m really pleased with the car \u2013 obviously I didn\u2019t get much time to practice today, but it felt good and I\u2019m feeling very confident with it. I\u2019m looking forward to the race ahead \u2013 I think we\u2019re in really good shape. We tried a different set up with my car, and it took a few laps to get into it, but really I was very pleased and happy and looking forward to getting in the car again tomorrow. Weather wise, it is very hot and humid, and it\u2019s difficult conditions here, but I\u2019m feeling good and am very fit for the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Gascoyne<\/a>: \u201cAll round a very successful day. It was good to have Fairuz in the car this morning and he was able to complete his entire program. Heikki took over the car in the afternoon and was also able to finish his planned program – evaluating the tyres and the race pace of the car. We had no mechanical issues on either car and in general I\u2019m very pleased with the progress we\u2019re making, so well done to the whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rounding off the day in Malaysia was Tony Fernandes<\/a> who said \u201cGreat day \u2013 we did everything we wanted to do and I\u2019m extremely pleased. We\u2019re getting better and better so let\u2019s hope we continue this tomorrow in qualifying. We are being realistic though \u2013 points aren\u2019t in my mind. I just want to finish the race, get both cars home and keep our feet on the ground. Of course I\u2019m still dreaming \u2013 I put Colin Chapman\u2019s cap on the pit wall to remind everyone of what we\u2019re aspiring to, but we\u2019ll get there in the right way, and the dream continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

[press release from Lotus Racing]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday began with Mike Gascoyne’s birthday being celebrated in the garage before the action on track began in what is fast becoming Lotus Racing\u2019s signature style, with Fairuz Fauzy in chassis T127-01 first out on track trying out a shark fin engine cover in the morning session. Whilst replacing Heikki Kovalainen for the session he … <\/p>\n

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