|
The perfect end to Lotus Racing’s final
qualifying session of the season saw the battle
of the new teams culminate in a dominant display
by the Anglo-Malaysian squad, with Jarno Trulli
finishing in 19th place, over half a second
ahead of Timo Glock, and Heikki Kovalainen very
close behind Jarno in 20th.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) FP3: 23 laps,
best time 1.45.048, 20th / QUALIFYING: 19th,
1.43.516, 11 laps “That was great and I’m
delighted we finished the last qualifying
session of the season as best of the new teams.
The car was really good this afternoon which is
a little surprising as I had quite a bit of
rear-locking under braking which we didn’t have
in FP3. Nevertheless, the track was improving
throughout the session, so it was important to
get a good lap in at the end which I managed to
do. I think I could have found another tenth but
I just wanted to make sure we were in front, and
the fact we are, with a decent gap to Timo, is a
sign of how well we are finishing the season.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) FP3: 15 laps,
best time 1.44.876, 19th / QUALIFYING: 20th,
1.43.712, 11 laps “I thought the session was ok
for me but congratulations to Jarno for putting
in a great qualifying lap. I think I put in as
good a performance as I could, and as both cars
are ahead of our direct rivals it’s where we
want to be. We’ll look to carry over today’s
performance into the race tomorrow and the main
aim is to end the season as best of the new
teams.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “I don’t
think we could have asked for any more today.
Both cars were strong, well balanced and
dominated the other new teams which was the
number one goal. We have worked hard all weekend
to get the best out of the tyres, and both Jarno
and Heikki did that in qualifying, putting us in
a very strong position for tomorrow’s race.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “That was a
fantastic display from the whole team. To end
the final qualifying session of 2010 so far
ahead of our main rivals is a great effort, and
is just reward for the extremely hard work
everyone has put in throughout the whole season.
I have enjoyed every second of this weekend so
far. On top of the strong performances on track
yesterday and today, we have been able to take a
few more important steps forward for 2011 and
next year is looking more exciting than ever.
However, for now it is all about this weekend.
Richard Branson and I were measured up for our
flight attendant uniforms today and that adds an
extra bit of excitement to tomorrow’s battle,
but now it is all about making sure we keep our
concentration and focus and finish the season as
well as we did today.”
|
