Sport - Racing : Motor

Narain finishes sixth

Coimbatore: Narain Karthikeyan of A1 Team India recorded a sixth-place finish in the Feature race in the third round of the A1 Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on Sunday.

An A1 Team India release said that Narain, who started 11th, battled it out in an exciting race that saw several cars spin off the track in the very first corner. Narain made good use of the advantage to move up the grid.

With 17 laps to go, A1 Team India, which pulled off two very efficient pit stops, had used five power boost opportunities, reflecting in Narain’s strong performance as he pushed the car further up the grid with a fastest lap time of 1:50:161s in his 34th lap.

It was A1 Team India’s best ever finish since the beginning of the 2007/08 season. Narain collected five points for his effort.

In the sprint race, Narain stepped up one place from qualifying to finish 13th. The team enjoyed a good start but Narain got caught behind Alex Yoong, the home team driver. He attempted to surge past Alex only to find his car come into contact with the latter’s. In the process the front wing of Narain’s car was slightly damaged.

After the race, Alex visited A1 Team India’s garage and apologised to Narain saying that he had experienced gear shift problems.

A1 Team Switzerland’s driver Neel Jani had a fabulous weekend taking home victories in both the Sprint and Feature race.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu