Team Lotus completed their pre-season testing schedule by completing 138 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.
Heikki Kovalainen,who was in the T128 the whole day, finished as the ninth quickest driver, faster than the likes of Paul di Resta, Adrian Sutil, and even Jenson Button.
“That is obviously a fantastic end to the tests,” said the Finn. “Everyone in the team has put in a lot of hard work and days like today are the reward.
“Completing a double-race distance has given us the chance to make a lot of progress on track and we have accumulated a huge amount of data that will be very helpful in Australia, Malaysia and China. I’m not only pleased with the mileage we’ve done today, i’m also pleased with the pace we’ve shown.
“It’s too early to make predictions but I think we’ll go to Melbourne and have a good chance to taking the step forward we want to. A good day!”
Chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne agreed with his driver’s assessment. “An excellent last day of the test, and a very good way to finish the four pre-season tests,” he said. “We completed our full programme today, worked through a lot of set-up options and also completed two race distance runs which is very satisfying.
“To have finished with a double-race distance is a great effort from the team who have worked extremely hard. It is clear that compared to this time last year we have made a huge step forward so this a great way to finish and now we can look forward to the action in Melbourne.”
