LOTUS F1 REVS UP SPANISH CIRCUIT ON FIRST DAY OF TESTING

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 (Bernama) -- Despite minor glitches, Malaysia's Formula
One (F1) team, the Lotus F1 Racing, with Fairuz Fauzy behind the steering, had a
successful first day testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain on Wednesday.

Although initially facing a problem with the machine's power steering due to
supplier issues, Fairuz, the third driver for the team, completed 76 laps
without further problems, thus completed the 300km needed to gain his Super
Licence from the Federation of International Automobile (FIA).

Fairuz said he was delighted with his first day behind the wheel of the
Lotus Cosworth T127.

"It was a big challenge to complete the 300km I need for the super licence
and with no power steering, it was difficult to drive in the dry, not so bad in
the wet; so I was driving a bit conservatively but I am just very pleased," he
said in a statement, issued here Thursday.

The team's chief technical officer, Mike Gascoyne said the power steering
issue would be fixed today and that the team would be busy preparing the cars
for the second test on Thursday.


"We had no major reliability issues -- a few niggles with overheating which
were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly," he said.

The team's main drivers, Finnish Heikki Kovalainen takes over the driving
duties for the next two days before Italian Jarno Trulli joins the action on
Saturday.

-- BERNAMA