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An excellent end to the Brazilian Grand Prix
saw Lotus Racing take one more step closer to
tenth place in the 2010 Championship after
Heikki Kovalainen finished 18th, just ahead of
Jarno Trulli in 19th.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 18th,
fastest lap 1.17.161 - lap 69, 1 stop: “It was a
good race, probably the best we could have hoped
for in the conditions today. I made a good start
and passed Timo straight away which put me in a
good position for the rest of the afternoon. I
enjoyed it out there – I had a good battle with
Jarno and Timo for quite a lot of the race, and
as we neared the end Jarno was very close so I
had to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes and
we could get both cars home. The important thing
today is that we are now one race away from
tenth and that will be the goal next weekend in
Abu Dhabi.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) 19th, fastest lap
1.17.316 - lap 69, 1 stop: “Another very
positive result for the team and I’m really
happy I got to the end of the race! I had yet
another small hydraulic issue, but good work
from the guys in the garage managed that, and
towards the end of the race I was able to push
Heikki and end up just behind him. I didn’t have
a great start, I had a lot of wheelspin but
pretty soon I was able to attack Timo and just
as I was shaping up to pass him he pitted and I
came out ahead of him after the stops. After
that I caught up with Heikki and we then had a
pretty comfortable run to the end of the race.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “An
excellent race for us after what has been a very
good weekend. Congratulations to Red Bull for
winning their first constructors’ championship
today, and for us it was a textbook race today.
Heikki made a great start and went straight past
Timo, and Jarno followed him past a few laps
later. After that we were able to open a gap to
our nearest rivals and maintain track position
right to the end. It was a very professional
race from the whole team and pushes us another
step closer to tenth so we will be aiming to
take that performance to Abu Dhabi and repeat it
at the final race.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “Firstly my
sincere congratulations to Red Bull Racing on
securing the constructors’ title today. They are
a superb team, full of honest, professional
people and we are very excited about working
with them next year. They have set the standards
Mike and his aero team must reach and that is an
excellent challenge for him and our whole team.
From our point of view I am very happy with the
performance today. We looked a class team out
there and the two car finish is just reward for
the hard work this weekend and all year. Two
flawless pitstops from the team in the garage
showed that we have talent everywhere, and for a
team that is still only a year old that is very
impressive. What pleased me most is the fact
that we kept pace with most of the cars in the
middle of the pack, right up to the fifth place
car who we were only just over a second away
from in race pace. With all the steps we have
taken to build such a solid foundation for our
team next year we will be right in the mix with
the established teams in 2011, but for today I
want to say congratulations to the whole team.
Now we focus on Abu Dhabi, the last race of the
season and the one where I hope we secure tenth
place.”
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