Lotus Racing Sees Drama & Disappointment In Valencia

Lotus Racing dressed the two T127 race cars in “500 Races” livery and even flew in Clive Chapman, son of Lotus' founder Colin Chapman, to mark the 500th Grand Prix that Lotus was participating in over the weekend. The European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain was not kind to both drivers, however. Jarno Trulli showed good pace and finished in 21st place, but not before losing his front wing in the first lap and having a gearbox problem late on.

But the real drama was seen by Heikki Kovalainen: Trying to make up for his first lap delays and early pit-stop, Red Bull's Mark Webber attempted to overtake the Lotus but instead crashed into the rear of the car when Kovalainen braked early. The Red Bull clipped the Lotus' right rear tyre, launched into a somersault and smashed into the barriers. Luckily, both drivers escaped unharmed.

“First of all it's good news that both of us are ok. Mark had a hardcore flight, and it could have ended up much worse, so it's good we're both fine”, Kovalainen said. “I think he missed his braking point and he ran into me at a very bad angle—his front tyre hit my right rear and he took off”.

Lotus Racing Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne dismissed claims that Kovalainen should never have attempted to block the much faster Red Bull that aggressively. “Heikki had an accident with Webber—he was defending his line and racing for position, and that's what we will always do in that situation”, Gascoyne said, adding “I don't care who you are. End of story. All this A-team, B-team stuff, forget it”.