“The
Fastest Indian in The World” Narain Karthikeyan opened
a new chapter in his distinguished International Motorsports career
last weekend, by finishing 6th in his first Le Mans Series race for
the Kolles Audi Team, driving the Audi R10 TDi LMP1 Sportscar. The 5.5
liter V12, turbo-diesel powered car is one of the most successful sportscars
in the history of the championship, winning the Le Mans 24-hour classic
for the past three years.
Narain
added
another couple of ‘firsts’ to the innumerable ‘firsts’
in his career CV, becoming the first Indian driver to enter the Le Mans
Series, and the first to score championship points, that too in his
debut race.
The
1,000 km Endurance race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium
was the venue of the second round of the 2009 Le Mans Series (LMS),
where Narain started his summer season of racing in 2009. With its mixture
of long straights, fast corners and varying gradients, the circuit ranks
as one of the most technically challenging circuits in the world, and
is a firm favourite with teams and drivers alike. Narain has
good memories of this track, as it was the venue of a great battle between
himself & Jacques Villeneuve during his 2005 Formula 1 campaign.

Due
to the 1,000 km long endurance nature of the races (a Formula 1 race
is only 305 km long), Narain shared driving duties
with two other drivers, Briton Andrew Meyrick & Dutchman Charles
Zwolsman. Narain undertook the driving duties during
qualifying on Saturday and qualified the car 9th on the grid, ahead
of the teams’ second car driven by Christian Albers. <
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