Lotus confirms more Friday outings for Fauzy 05 Jul 2010
Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy will back in the cockpit at Silverstone on Friday as he gets another practice outing for Lotus. Fauzy will also participate in Friday morning sessions at the Hungarian, Singapore and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. It follows successful pre-season tests for the 27-year-old from Kuala Lumpur and an impressive appearance earlier this year in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
“First I want to thank the whole team for the chance to get back in the car,” said Fauzy. “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.”
Although Fauzy originally hails from more distant shores, the British Grand Prix is very much a home race for both him and the Malaysian-backed Lotus team. The official test driver is also looking forward to sampling Silverstone’s new F1 layout.
“To start out at Silverstone is going to be very special indeed - I live literally 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,” he added. “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.”
Gascoyne is also eager to see Fauzy back in the T127: “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.”
Fernandes stressed that Fauzy’s F1 return was invaluable not just to Lotus, but also to the hopes of a nation: “Fairuz is proving that hard work, perseverance and dedication can make dreams come true, whoever you are, and wherever you are in the world. Everyone in Malaysia is behind him, and Zulfahmi Khairuddin in MotoGP 125, another Malaysian flying the flag in international motorsport, and they are proving that talent and dedication can take you right to the very top.
“Fahmi will be adding more points to his tally very soon, and while Fairuz isn’t yet in a position to score points, his technical input will provide us with more very useful data, and that’s obviously very important. Equally important is the inspirational role he continues to play which will, I believe, also help us take another step forward, and I’d like to thank him for that as well.”
For his Friday outings, Fauzy will be taking over Jarno Trulli’s T127-04 and Heikki Kovalainen’s T127-01 chassis at two races each.
