Sunday: Kovalainen and Trulli Satisfied for Team Lotus
Even though the final result (18th and 19th) doesn't really show it, the race of the two Team Lotus drivers was encouraging for the team.
Heikki Kovalainen – 18th
What a great race for the whole team! I had an incredible start, no wheel spin, and managed to overtake a good number of cars to climb up to 14th place. It was as if everyone else started in reverse. I even heard one of my engineers laugh and say that my start was brilliant. I was thinking: “No! Don’t talk about it yet, I need it to last the whole race!” After that, the first two stints were wonderful. The car was working really well with the soft tires, and the pit stops were good. Then the safety car came out, and everyone bunched up. From there, I had a good battle with Jarno [Trulli] and managed to stay ahead until the finish. The car was well-balanced all weekend, so I could attack even with the harder tires… even though I was held up a bit by the Virgins and the HRTs, once they got the blue flags, I was able to pass them and keep a bit of a lead over Jarno. The important thing here is that we didn’t have to endure any blue flags for the first time this season. It’s a great day!
Jarno Trulli – 19th
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For me, it was a great race today. I didn’t start perfectly well, but I was able to regain some positions during the race. After a few laps, I felt there was an issue with the gearbox, which slowed me down, but it came back in working order, and almost immediately, the safety car came out, allowing me to close the gap with Heikki. We both had a good race until the end. For the whole team, it’s a very significant result as we completed all the laps of the race. I am really happy for everyone. We can leave Japan with our heads held high and focus on Korea.
Mike Gascoygne – Technical Director
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It was a really enjoyable weekend for the whole team. For the first time, both cars finished on the same lap as the leader, and even though we were helped by the safety car, our level of performance was better than we’ve ever seen compared to the cars around us. Both drivers pushed throughout the race, up to the final straight, and I think we managed to extract every ounce of performance we could get from the car. Heikki got off to a fantastic start, arguably the best of the year. With Jarno pushing Heikki until the end of the race, it was exactly what we wanted. They were also both helped by some huge pit stops from the guys in the garage, so overall, it was a very professional job. Congratulations to everyone!
