News: Kovy races to P14

„Great fun out there today, again beat the other new ones and got the pit calls spot on so very happy, work continues we gonna be there!“ Heikki’s way to sum up the day – or at least the race.

 

It was a tough edition of the Shanghai round, the one that provided a platform for mistakes, not only by the drivers also by the teams and their respective strategies. But the Team Lotus managed to keep their cool despite the hussle and the 'bullying' during the start. Kovy did his job in good fashion today after hearing a few critical words about his mistake during the qualification. Not only did he avoid making mistakes in tricky conditions, but he also was able to defend his P14 against Williams' Nico Hülkenber during the final 3rd of the race. „I think we had the correct strategy today in what were pretty tricky conditions. The decision to stay out early on dry tyres was made by me and the team together – it wasn’t wet enough to come in and as soon as the race started I could see the rain had calmed down so we agreed it was the right call to stick with the plan“, explained Heikki after the race.

 

It was a chance that Lotus had to grab with both hands, by risking a little with staying out but losing more if they would just follow the lead of the top teams. „The other cars on wet tyres were obviously struggling so that worked out very well. It might not always work out like this for us, but today it showed we’re a good team who make the right decisions, so I’m really pleased, for everyone in Lotus Racing, and all our fans.“

 

Mike Gascoyne was naturally not very happy with the hydraulic problems on Kovy's team mate Jarno Trulli’s car, but spoke very highly of the Finn's effort: „It was a fantastic race from Heikki. I’m also very pleased to see our race pace was very good, especially at the end on the wet conditions.“ And the Team Principal Tony Fernandes added: „It’s obviously a great result for Heikki.“

 

After the race the team started packing up and by the looks of it it is a good thing that the team boss Tony Fernandes owns an airline as well. The team personnel are flying to Kuala Lumpur for now, awaiting for the future developments in the behavior of the volcano ash cloud.

 

(c) Jule Krause