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While almost whole of Europe is currently fighting certain ash clouds, Heikki Kovalainen had an air problem as well, but it was more about windy conditions in Shanghai which made his qualification very tricky. One mistake during the final run was not helpful either. The end result was that Lotus got beaten by competitior Virgin as 'the best qualified newbie', and Mike Gascoyne was not amused. „Dissapointing not to beat Glock. Heikki made a mistake in the last corner otherwise he would have made it.“

If we were evil we could get quite happy with Heikki having a small problem with oil pressure at the end of FP2, because it meant a few more minutes for the press releases and interviews – culminating in the last news we got from the man himself: „Chillin now in hotel room watching golf from European tour today! My mate Ilonen doing great, 9 under after two days.“

Bright sunshine greeted Lotus Racing in Shanghai as Friday’s practice sessions went according to plan for the team, enjoying its debut in China. The track was very dirty and grip levels were low for the morning session, but improved throughout the day and, despite a small problem for Heikki with a couple of minutes left in the afternoon session, all programs were completed and both cars were again ahead of the other new teams at the close of FP2.

Spirits are high as Lotus Racing turns to China and the final race before the European season kicks off in Spain. The team is again focusing on reliability and the challenge of seeing both cars cross the finish line before its first major performance upgrade is unveiled in Barcelona.

Home races are never easy and Sunday in Malaysia was another proof to that in case of Heikki Kovalainen and the Lotus F1 Racing Team. After the best starting position of the season to date when Kovy managed to get himself into Q2, the race day was less than amusing for the Finn. Or to say it with Tony Fernandes' words „Thank god Malaysia is only once a year.“

Saturday’s qualifying session saw Lotus Racing’s sunny faces beaming through the rain as another important milestone was achieved, with Heikki Kovalainen going into his first Q2 with the team and finishing 15^th (1.52.270) after a clever strategy took advantage of the heavy rain that started falling just before the session began. Jarno Trulli (18^th, 1.52.884) narrowly missed out on Q2 but was satisfied he did all he could in tricky conditions.

Friday began with Mike Gascoyne's birthday being celebrated in the garage bfore the action on track began in what is fast becoming Lotus Racing’s signature style, with Fairuz Fauzy in chassis T127-01 first out on track trying out a shark fin engine cover in the morning session.

Whilst replacing Heikki Kovalainen for the session he completed 19 laps with a best time of 1.40.721 in a good run in the morning heat. Jarno Trulli completed 21 laps and finished ahead of the other new teams on 1.39.460.

A mixed day for Lotus Racing at the Melbourne Grand Prix saw Heikki Kovalainen finish the race in 13th place, once again ahead of the other new teams, but Jarno Trulli failed to make the start due to a hydraulics issue on the grid.