The weather was a complete contrast from a day earlier.But that did not ensure a good result for Team India in the opening race of the A1 Grand Prix at the Circuit Park.
Narain finishes 10th in sprint, pulls out of 2nd race midway
ZANDVOORT: The weather was a complete contrast from what it was a day earlier. But that did not ensure a good result for Team India in the opening race of the A1 Grand Prix at the Circuit Park here on Sunday.
Narain Karthikeyan had a very disappointing time on track in both the sprint as well as the feature races. He did manage to score a point in the former -- by finishing 10th -- but it was the feature race which turned out to be a complete disappointment for the star as well as the team.
Narain was forced to pull out of the race with a mechanical failure after a freak accident in the 13th lap and that ended any hopes Team India had of getting something out of the race. Officials in the team were certain though that the car was hit from behind during the initial laps.
"We were hit from behind and it was never the same after that. We aren't sure which car hit us but our car went about four-five feet in the air and then hit the ground hard, that was it," said the Chief Operating Officer of Team India, Yohann Setha. The incident happened in the 6th lap and by the time Narain came into his first pit stop the writing was very much on the wall. He continued for four more laps before pulling out.
"After the incident Narain told us that he was not very comfortable with the back end of the car and we were one of the first teams to go into the pits," said Yohan. "We felt it was a problem with the tyres so we changed them. But even then Narain continued feeling uncomfortable and so we decided to stop."
"We had a similar problem in Shanghai last year and we failed to identify it. Subsequently the driver suffered a huge accident," said Yohan. "So we didn't want to repeat the same mistake and put our driver's safety, as well as the other drivers, at risk."
As for the race, it was Team Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis who won the race ahead of Team South Africa's Adrian Zaugg. The latter had the last laugh though, as his second place followed his triumph in the opening sprint race.
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