Italian Jarno Trulli took over testing duties from Lotus Racing’s test and reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy for the team’s second test day at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Trulli who is best known for his one-lap wonders finished the session after completing 70 laps. A best time of 1:25.524 was set and it was the 10th quickest time. It was also almost half a second quicker than the time set by Timo Glock in his Virgin Racing contender.
“It was a productive day in terms of set up direction with Jarno. We were able to identify some problems with the set up in the car and establish clear direction to improve it. We still have a long way to go, and a lot of time to come from the car,” said chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne. “We had a couple of minor hydraulics issues which stopped the car on track, but nothing major so all in all it was a productive day and we’re aiming to continue in the same vein tomorrow,” he added.
The fastest driver of the day was Williams’ Nico Hulkenberg with a 1:20.614 lap time closely followed by Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari with 1:20.637. The Spaniard clocked in a total of 134 laps. Pedro de la Rosa and his Sauber racer was third with 1:20.973.
7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher who makes a sensational come back with the Mercedes GP Petronas team was seventh fastest with a time of 1:21.689. The German also expressed that he does not believe the team will be able to score victories at the beginning of the season. He said the team’s main aim is not to be too far off from the top-running teams. However lets wait for the season-opening race in Bahrain.
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Eagerly waiting for season to kick off…let see how Lotus Team perform
Finally Lotus is faster than Virgin. Keep the hard work
I want Branson to serve me, in the tight AA uniform.
Hope they improve the niggling issues by Bahrain….
Really like to see Lotus do well….
5 second different from 1st is just too far away lah…
Its a good result considering that the machine took less than a year to be built.
go go……..
keep up the hard work….
I’m hopping that Fairuz will success, not only for his career but for our country as well..
Mysticmind said,
February 27, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
5 second different from 1st is just too far away lah…
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That is why they called it 'testing'… so that they can improve…
whay so great about finishing ahed of virgin racing? who is virgin racing by the way??
well, faster than another team means we won't be the 1st in the construction championship the other way round… :)
Heiki said,
February 27, 2010 @ 4:01 pm
Mysticmind said,
February 27, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
5 second different from 1st is just too far away lah…
—————————————————
That is why they called it ‘testing’… so that they can improve…
+++
Then… Usually in a real race, he might be left over 50 seconds.
________
Nah Nah said,
February 27, 2010 @ 4:34 pm
whay so great about finishing ahed of virgin racing? who is virgin racing by the way??
+++
Read more buddy.
Tony Fernandes vs Richard Branson.
That's all about.
Nico is bloody amazing, he's 23, his 6th year in professional racing.
And like fairuz, new to the F1 scene.
I hate to compare, but who finished last yday?
And how is Trulli in the same car 2.5 secs faster than his fellow comrade?
They say it takes 10 million to reduce the laptime by 1 second in F1.
It obviously takes a lot less, if you simply change the driver.
I think Branson is screwed, unless Trulli gets hit by a bus.
Nico Hulkenberg was an ex A1GP, same like Alex and Fairuz, but he graduated into a F1 full racing driver for Williams now.
Let's hope Lotus can improve gradually after the first few races and stay in front of Virgin F1! Yes it's also the race among the budget carriers!
Nico Hulkenberg drove A1 Team Germany to championship victory in A1GP season 06/07 and is at the right age to debut in F1. Willi Weber is his manager. The same guy that managed Schumi. His Williams is looking pretty strong and running the same Cosworth as Virgin and Lotus. However they're running their own gearbox casing while Lotus and Virgin running the same gearbox unit from Xtrac.
Virgin looks to have the pace while Lotus looks too have more mileage and better reliability so far.
I think it is better to try and make a reliable car faster, than it is to make a fast car reliable. So Lotus doesn't look 'pretty'(pace) against Virgin but as the season progresses it might be Lotus that is likely to finish races and be poised for possible points. Will be interesting to watch
Lotus Racing is a JOKE… Yawn!!!
Mysticmind said,
February 27, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
5 second different from 1st is just too far away lah…
________________________________________________________________________
so why dont u try to make it 5 sec ahead Nico Hulkenberg?i think the way u comment described that u are very professional racer or maybe pro to talk rubbish..
While it isn't the Lotus of Chapman, Clark, Fittipaldi, Peterson, Andretti and Senna… it still is good to see the name on a potentially respectable car and team. GO LOTUS!
AJ said,
February 27, 2010 @ 10:44 pm
Lotus Racing is a JOKE… Yawn!!!
____________________________________
and dudes who come in here without constructive comments are a JOKE too… zzzzz…
obviously there are quite a number of engineering issues yet to be solved since lotus is a new team. Looks like there are some improvement today, good job to their engineers. Just hope we have some budget to close down the time gap.
our aim now to be to be front of virgin, as long as we in front of virgin, we already win!, campos and usf1 already out, in moral,, lotus already win in first round!!! go tony!! beat branson.. we want branson in AA uniform!!!
At the moment it doesn't seem like Lotus is 'in front' of Virgin. In terms of pace, and factoring the bits Virgin are putting in for Bahrain it looks like Lotus are likely to be trailing behind Virgin in quali. However for race day Lotus may have the upper hand due to their higher test mileage. However given that Bahrain will be their first ever race, just finishing will be a significant milestone. Don't be surprised however if neither Lotus or Virgin finish the race in Bahrain. Just the nature of this sport and both facing a steep learning curve.
We might see Sir Richard Branson in a stewardess uniform lol :D
the aero package that lotus is using might change during the campaign season. I just hope they will improve the front wing and diffuser. Yes, they lack the downforce and therefore in terms of high speed cornering, might loss some valuable time. Its always the cornering that makes the difference in lap times and race placing. i'm may not be an expert but the front wing looks too 'fluid' and 'slicky'. body work especially near the driver's side is also 2-3 years old.
anyway, the lotus team have my full support throughout the season.
28/02/2010 (Last Day) Barcelona Testing Result
1 Hamilton McLaren 1m20.472s
2 Webber Red Bull 1m20.496s +0.024
3 Massa Ferrari 1m20.539s +0.067
4 Sutil Force India 1m20.611s +0.139
5 Vettel Red Bull 1m20.667s +0.195
6 Schumacher Mercedes 1m20.745s +0.273
7 Barrichello Williams 1m20.870s +0.398
8 Kobayashi Sauber 1m20.911s +0.439
9 Buemi Toro Rosso 1m22.135s +1.663
10 Kubica Renault 1m23.175s +2.703
11 Kovalainen Lotus 1m25.251s +4.779
12 Di Grassi Virgin 1m26.160s +5.688
Well..Lotus ahead of Virgin again. Tony Fernandes said"3,000 km done over 8 days.We reckon we will be 3.5 seconds off the fastest car an improvement of 5 second from Jerez. we keep chipping away." Meanwhile Virgin still hindered by hydraulic issue. Good luck to Lotus.
i wonder is there any malaysian as a crew.
sure can!
thanks for the support! ;)
time difference from the top man has reduced…
surely they were doing the right things…
first time back they were left almost 10sec…
later reduced to 7sec.
and now only +-5sec. left to make up for….
keep up the good work man….