Feb.26 (GMM) The next time Fairuz Fauzy drives Lotus' T127 car could be during Friday practice for the Malaysian grand prix in April.

Although every other team fielded race drivers, 27-year-old Kuala Lumpur born reserve driver Fauzy was at the wheel at Barcelona on Thursday.

He was the slowest of the 11 runners, and nearly seven seconds off Mark Webber's headline time.

According to Finland's Turun Sanomat, Fauzy does not know when he will drive the car next.

But the newspaper said he could be driving one of the race driver's Norfolk-built cars during free practice at Sepang, which is the Malaysian-backed team's home race.

"I have to be ready all the time to drive the car," Fauzy is quoted as saying. "You never know what will happen."

Fauzy thinks the T127 will not be so far off the pace in Bahrain in two weeks.

"We're still far off but there is still improvement to be had," said the team's reserve driver, predicting an eventual lap time deficit of about three seconds.

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