Fairuz Fauzy will be driving the Friday Practice Runs for four more races in the 2010 season. He will be deriving at Silverstone, Hungary, Singapore and the season-closing Abu Dhabi races, taking over Jarno Trulli’s T127-04, and Heikki Kovalainen’s T127-01 chassis at two races each.
“First I want to thank Tony, Mike and the whole team for the chance to get back in the car. I really can’t wait to see how far we’ve moved forward since I was last out on track, and I’m very proud to have been given the chance to play another active role in our continuing development. I did the shakedown of chassis 04 at Snetterton a couple of weeks ago, but obviously couldn’t really push there, so it’ll be great to get back out and add whatever I can to help the team keep moving towards the midfield,” said Fairuz, who is quite excited about this – he calls Silverstone his “second home”.
Fairuz was with us at today’s press conference via Skype: “To start out at Silverstone is going to be very special indeed – I live litreally a few metres from the track, so I’ll have a lot of friends, family and fans there to cheer me and the whole team on, and it’ll be great to be among the first F1 cars to try out the new section. I’m also really looking forward to the other three races, particularly Singapore as there is a unique challenge to racing under the lights, but also because there will be a lot of fans there from Malaysia and Singapore, and it’ll be great to put on a good show for them.”
“Every time Fairuz has been out on track for us he’s done a great job, and taking part in four more races is a just reward for the contribution he’s already made to the establishment and growth of our team. It’s another chance for us to learn more about how to get the most out of him in the car, as well as providing us with another invaluable viewpoint on the characteristics of our car,” said the team’s CTO Mike Gascoyne.
Look after the jump for a video of the press conference.
VIDEO: Lotus Racing Press Conference (5th July 2010)
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He lives in the UK? How much money do these drivers make eh? Damn cool having Silverstone as your next door neighbor although it is an old track. Who is this guy’s father anyway, that he gets to drive all the fast cars and at such a young age too.
His father Haji Fauzy owns Mofaz – http://bit.ly/cy8F4E
No wonder. Good Luck Fairuz….
Fairuz Fauzy!! Add oil!!
He father is one of the AP holders so you can understand where he got the funding. However read one article in NST and his family claimed that despite coming from a rich background, they did struggle financially and have to sell off their house and cars so that Fairuz can succeed in motorsports. I found this too good to be true.
Well he did struggle a few years in european but his best achievement is perhaps a few podium finishers (a few wins as well) and 2nd spot on driver championship on last year’s FR 3.5 world series. This is what Alex Yoong himself failed to do (winning junior championships in europe/asia) before joining the F1 ranks.
Yup.. its good to be true
Yes Yes. They sold the house in TTDI and built a huge mansion on a 6 acre site in Sungei Pencala. If you drive along the LDP, the house on the peak is theirs. They also own the Honda franchise and Suzuki franchise, both of their 3S outlets are in Sg Pencala, along the LDP. The family also has a trading division, ie having their own brands such as Ala Fonte mineral water and some coffee powder and ‘power drink brands.
The group also assembles motorcycles, but I’ve forgotten the brand name.
yup sold the old ttdi house. the mansion is penchala even had a single balak, whole tree as a feature column. can u imagine? they did sold a house to finance fairuz racing endeavour, 1 of so many many house lah….. n mofaz starts as a trading co b4 getting the AP. mr fauzy is a trader in kelantan back then, bordering with thai.
then he starts trading in KL, later went to auto business, with the AP of course… any1 remembers Mofaz Exoticar? it was kore famous than Naza, as a grey exotic cars importer… the premis is still there, in TTDI.
motor brand is MOMOS (mofaz motorcycle, i guess)
the mofaz group oso involvd in fast moving trade, drinks, they hv this Ala Fontaine mineral water, (lisa surihani was the face, b4 she’s a TV / movie artist)
now mofaz oso a Honda 4S dealer, their HQ in penchala is just opposite the mutiara damansara, over the highway.
Quote the Sun “AirAsia boss Datuk Tony Fernandes has taken up Sir Richard Branson’s challenge — that the loser in the Formula 1 stakes will dress up as an airline stewardess on the winner’s airline.”
Is he going to dress up as an airline stewardess…?
virgin nor lotus have score any point, so is a draw
Why, so far Lotus’s been doing much better than Virgin
Branson is always good at attracting publicity for his business empire. Very much like what Red Bull is doing all this while. The marketing budget is spent mostly on publicity like this. They get news coverage without spending on advertisements.
Genius.
make Malaysia proud!!!
make M’sia pround alway finish in front of Virgin & HRT only & be the best rookie team
Nothing like monkeys who’ve misappropriated the once great Lotus racing name…
Finally! Make the best of it Fairuz, make Lotus and all of us proud. Proof that you can also kick ass!
Wow he’s quite close to me. Maybe i should ask him to go sailing on my uncles yacht.
Finally they given Fairuz a chance to drive the car for the final few GP this year. Who knows, may be he can collect some points. Good luck to Fairuz and make Malaysia proud.
Salam..
only practice la..read carefully la…
COOL!
Isn’t it time for Fairuz to replace the underperforming Truli? After many races Truli have been very dissapointing! Maybe its time for someone with fire in their belly to take over the reins.
we hoped the best for him. and the team. it just i am against tony who been behaving like not a team principal. for whatever records in motoring he was put there in the first place blow my mind. if that magnum sponsored chap became one, i would be less irritated.
christian hoerner wasnt a niki lauda during his days. but he triumphed as team principal. i might get it wrong his actual job but what i meant is he is doing very well at redbull racing.
“Flab”io Briartore was a marketing dude for Benetton before he managed their F1 team (Schumi won his 1st championship with that team).
Not all team principals have motoring background. Mercedes GP’s Nick Fry, McLaren’s Teddy Mayer (the team principal before Ron Dennis took over in the Eighties), Ferrari’s Luca di Montezemolo. All of them have no motoring background whatsoever.
As for drivers, the only successful team managers were Jack Brabham, who is so far the only driver to win in a car that bore his name, and Bruce McLaren. Many world champion tried their hand at managing and most of them fail
Professional Motorsport is a rich man’s sport. Look at Karamjit. He is barely surviving financially. Alex Yoong, he has made enough money from his F1 stint.
How many of us can honestly say we can fund our child’s initial racing career with our meagre salary. Imagine the sacrifices of Lewis Hamilton’s father (Anthony) during the years when Lewis starting to race go karts till he finally got enough sponsorship to fund himself.
Karting’s expensive here, whereas in European countries those go karts are priced like motorcycles. Here you could buy a second hand car for the price of the kart, how to promote motorsports? Untill things change, racing (legal that is) will continue to be the realm of the rich and bratty….
Used car also not that cheap. :-(
If cheap enough, then we can have stock car racing.
Whoot!
;-)
Well, if we can find a RM 2K car we go race with minimal modifications. Finns does it like that, which explains why Finland produces more rally champions & F1 drivers per capita than any other country, if I’m not mistaken. That and a very comprehensive driving curriculum taught to learner drivers.
The problem nowadays is the place to race. No circuit for low budget car nuts… Sepang circuit fee has gone up this year… and might be continues in the future.. aihh.. maybe it’s not 100% mat rempit fault for being a mat rempit after all… heheheh…
If you watch Top Gear in Season 13 or 12 when James May went to Finland to train with Mika Hakkinen on racecraft, you’ll see where the Finnish raced. In a dirt track formed out in a field! Where there is a will, there’s a way. Racing need not be on tarmac race tracks you know.
Hope Fairuz can drive better….and collect some points.
Lotus, and Tony please….stop yapping here and there, OK? Prove yourself with good result (as in collecting points). Not just yappping, yapping and more yapping….
If Lotus and Tony keep on yapping, I think lotus can win F1 if there is a category named “team that makes most noise but no results in racing”….
Give them benefit of the doubt lah. How do you know Virgin and Hispania don’t make any noise in their home countries?
mata katak..if u good enough..go build your own team..n prove to us..u can be instant good competitor..dont talk saja lorrr…buat..aiyoo..
Fairuz will struggle in the F1 scene.
Even Jarno + heikki with their vast experience is having
difficulties finishing the race. It’s not the driver but it all
boils down to poor choice of package and reliability which sucks.
The only upside is that Lotus cannot go any lower cos
they are scrapping the track already.
Good luck Fairuz give it your best shot !!!
BMW Sauber-Ferrari has 7 points so the battle for the
1st point is still on _ just hope and pray hard for rain
similar to the Sepang wash out last year.
Fairuz..! Make Malaysian PROUD okey..!!
Err… do you all actually read the story. Fairuz will do FP1 in 4 races. FP1 = Free Practice 1 on Fridays
Lotus throwing in the towel already ?
What a season it has been – now its time
to pick up the pieces annd evaluate what went wrong.
All the best FF and hope you can be one of the main drivers next year..
Just finish the race !!
last nite bulletin utama said that he will replace trulli places….so, fairuz will be in the race…rite, not just the friday practise session…thats great man…
give him support, and dun ask for a point la…team progress is more than enough…like finish in 12~13 places…or can go to q2 or q3….its more than enough….
go fairuz….we all support u….
Thats clearly bad reporting and wrong facts on tv3 part. Fairuz is only driving Friday practice.
ya..agree wit paul…if fairuz drive next season then only make sense la…but duno it will cme tru or not seem jarno and heiki sign i think 4 years contract, that mean lotus have to terminate one of them and pay compensation ma…but if in practice sesion fairuz show he is faster than jarno or heiki, then i think lotus wont hesitate to terminate one of them..if not, no chance yet to fairuz..gud luck..
With due respect,
No way fairuz can beat the 2 world class drivers.
Fairuz is just a rookie still learning the ropes.
Anyway it’s good exposure and all the best boy !!!
Fairuz maybe a rookie, but because he’s a rookie he’s got that fire in his belly to succeed. Trulli’s washed out, you can see it from his performance!
Sori to interrupt, Proton Satria Neo S2000’s latest news http://bit.ly/adAQO4
Cheers!
bro i heard they are using waja 1.8 engine… is that true….
Alah…just because he is anak org kaya he drives it…there are a few drivers are better than him…but cant meet the top people of lotus racing bcoz of status…
Go Fairuz! Hopefully one day we can hear Negaraku being played just before they hand out those trophies
Waiting patiently to see how well he does come Friday.
Give it your best shot- the whole of Msia thinks you are better
than the 2 current drivers and its time to prove them right !!!
Despite the myriad of comments given throughout this thread, many people don’t exactly know the trials and tribulations Fairuz had to go through to be where he is today.
Last year, Negaraku was played in Hungary when Fairuz won the WSR 2009 Hungary race. You could only imagine how it felt to be there listening to our national anthem being played on the Tannoy. He also consistently garnered podium finishes throughout the whole season to end up in 2nd place in the championship. Name me any other Malaysian who has given such consistency.
What it boils down to is this. Anyone can say anything about Fairuz, but none of us can actually say he knows Fairuz personally, and knows what it took for him to get to F1.