07/11/2010
NEWS STORY
An excellent end to the Brazilian Grand Prix saw Lotus Racing take one more step closer to tenth place in the 2010 Championship after Heikki Kovalainen finished 18th, just ahead of Jarno Trulli in 19th.
Heikki Kovalainen: "It was a good race, probably the best we could have hoped for in the conditions today. I made a good start and passed Timo straight away which put me in a good position for the rest of the afternoon. I enjoyed it out there - I had a good battle with Jarno and Timo for quite a lot of the race, and as we neared the end Jarno was very close so I had to make sure I didn't make any mistakes and we could get both cars home. The important thing today is that we are now one race away from tenth and that will be the goal next weekend in Abu Dhabi."
Jarno Trulli: "Another very positive result for the team and I'm really happy I got to the end of the race! I had yet another small hydraulic issue, but good work from the guys in the garage managed that, and towards the end of the race I was able to push Heikki and end up just behind him. I didn't have a great start, I had a lot of wheelspin but pretty soon I was able to attack Timo and just as I was shaping up to pass him he pitted and I came out ahead of him after the stops. After that I caught up with Heikki and we then had a pretty comfortable run to the end of the race."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "An excellent race for us after what has been a very good weekend. Congratulations to Red Bull for winning their first constructors' championship today, and for us it was a textbook race today. Heikki made a great start and went straight past Timo, and Jarno followed him past a few laps later. After that we were able to open a gap to our nearest rivals and maintain track position right to the end. It was a very professional race from the whole team and pushes us another step closer to tenth so we will be aiming to take that performance to Abu Dhabi and repeat it at the final race."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Firstly my sincere congratulations to Red Bull Racing on securing the constructors' title today. They are a superb team, full of honest, professional people and we are very excited about working with them next year. They have set the standards Mike and his aero team must reach and that is an excellent challenge for him and our whole team. From our point of view I am very happy with the performance today. We looked a class team out there and the two car finish is just reward for the hard work this weekend and all year. Two flawless pitstops from the team in the garage showed that we have talent everywhere, and for a team that is still only a year old that is very impressive. What pleased me most is the fact that we kept pace with most of the cars in the middle of the pack, right up to the fifth place car who we were only just over a second away from in race pace. With all the steps we have taken to build such a solid foundation for our team next year we will be right in the mix with the established teams in 2011, but for today I want to say congratulations to the whole team. Now we focus on Abu Dhabi, the last race of the season and the one where I hope we secure tenth place."
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