Karthikeyan qualifies in 14th for Le Mans

Driving for Kolles Audi team, Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan qualified 14th on a grid of 55 cars for this weekend’s Le Mans 24-hour race here.

Karthikeyan, who finished sixth overall in the first round last month driving a turbo-diesel Audi R10 TDi LMP1 Sportscar, has teamed up with Charles Zwolsman and Andrew Lotterer for his outing this weekend.

After a wet and windy start to the week, Thursday was bright and sunny, with not a drop of rain. The two qualifying sessions were scheduled for 7 pm to 9 pm and 10 pm to midnight. Narain drove in both the day and night sessions, and concentrated on improving his feel of the car and learning the track conditions in the dry.

The battle for pole position was fiercely fought between the Peugeots and the brand new Audi R15TDi’s, with the home team pipping the Audi to pole position in the dying minutes of the night session.

Karthikeyan said: “I’m quite satisfied with our qualifying effort. We are aiming to be strong and reliable throughout the 24 hours of the race. The atmosphere here at the circuit is just unreal. I’m told that last year the race had a crowd of 258,000 and I can believe it. The crowd is all around the track, even in the farthest corners. The car parks and campsites on the drive into the track are absolute jam packed.”

“It’s quite a special feeling to be a part of something so historic. My level of excitement in starting the race is just like my first F1 race in Melbourne in 2005,” he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Karthikeyan’s first laps were on a wet track during the official practice session that started at 6pm and went on until midnight, with the trio doing two stints in the car. They are one of the very few all-rookie teams in this year’s edition.