Lotus Racing chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne hailed a 'very successful first day' on the team's return to Formula One.Malaysian test driver Fairuz Fauzy completed 76 laps of the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, clocking up more than 300 kilometres, enough to qualify the 27-year-old for his superlicence.

Lotus Racing chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne hailed a 'very successful first day' on the team's return to Formula One.

Malaysian test driver Fairuz Fauzy completed 76 laps of the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, clocking up more than 300 kilometres, enough to qualify the 27-year-old for his superlicence.

On a difficult first day of the third pre-season test for all the teams as rain showers and red flags made it a stop-start session, the Norfolk-based, Malaysian-backed team had plenty to smile about.

Although Fauzy finished just over nine seconds behind the fastest man of the day in Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, his car was without power steering, underlining his impressive performance.

As second debuts go, after a 16-year absence, Gascoyne was happy enough, as he said: 'It's been an excellent day for the whole team.

'Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to Fairuz, who did an excellent job with the first proper day of running. With so much going on, such as doing systems checks, it can be a pretty disjointed day for the driver.

'When you add into that the changeable conditions, and also the fact we were running without power steering, it could have been a tricky day for Fairuz. But he didn't put a foot wrong, so well done to him and a big thank you.

'With the car, we had no major reliability issues - a few niggles with overheating which were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly. The power steering issue will be fixed for tomorrow so all in all a very successful first day and a busy evening ahead preparing the car for tomorrow.'

Fauzy, who hands over the wheel of the T127 to Heikki Kovalainen for the next two days, was naturally delighted with his day's work.

'First of all, I want to thank the team. To arrive here and complete 76 laps is fantastic,' said Fauzy.

'It was a big challenge, both to complete the 300 kilometres I need for the superlicence 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.'

Team principal Tony Fernandes also voiced his enthusiasm following a first day full of promise.

'Seventy-six laps. Great day, well done Fairuz,' beamed Fernandes.

'Great day for Lotus. Great day to see a British brand back in action. Great day for Malaysia.'