A passenger ride in a Lotus Evora with Heikki Kovalainen as the driver? Yes please! An invite to the Lotus festival was already looking pretty enticing what with every lotus F1 from 1958 to 1994, being in one place for the first time ever.
On arrival to Snetterton race track in the morning, I spotted Kovalainen in the queue next to us in a dark grey Lotus Evora. Is he using his own Evora for the track? This was the last I saw of him until 4.00pm when I was ushered down by the pit lane to await my ‘driver’ for two hot laps.
Turns out it was his Evora that I would be taken for a track run in, complete with everything he had packed for the weekend bulging out of the rear seats.
Now, I’m an adrenaline junkie and love nothing more than being pushed to the point of being scared to come out the other side and live that buzz. But you know what? The Evora didn’t terrify me as I expected.
I was surprised on various counts. One – how smooth the ride was, as Heiki glided round the track. And two – how far behind we were from the other two Evoras. Perhaps he was mindful of his gear in the back or thought he’d go gently with a girl in the passenger seat.
It’s still a ride to remember though. His smooth and precise driving skill is the best I’ve experienced yet, but then you would hope so from an F1 driver.
Kovalainen’s only comment at the end of our laps: ‘Great car, but needs more power.’ So how about it, Lotus?