Le Mans, France, 12 June 2009

Narain Karthikeyan’s first laps of the week at the Le Mans 24 Hour race on Wednesday 10th June were on a wet track during the official practice session. “The Fastest Indian in The World” is now officially the first Indian driver ever to participate in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. The session started at 6 pm and went on until midnight, with Narain and his team-mates, Charles Zwolsman & Andre Lotterer each doing two stints in the car. They are one of the very few all-rookie teams in this years edition of the world’s most famous motor race. At this time of the year the sun sets at about 9:45 pm, so the latter half of the session was in the dark. It was a whole new experience for Narain as the rain did not let up all evening.

After the session he said, “Everything about this race is so different from everything else I’ve ever done in my career to date. Driving in the dark was something I recently experienced for the first time when we tested in Paul Ricard a month ago, but driving in the dark on a wet track was just unbelievable. The feeling of speed is multiplied by a factor of 3 and the reflections of the road lights and the headlights of following cars in the mirrors is quite distracting. Add to that the wet track & the spray in the air from the cars in front of you, and the fact that you have other classes of slower cars ahead of you which you’re constantly overtaking, & it makes for a very hostile driving environment, one that demands absolute 100% concentration. If you relax for a split second, it can be very unforgiving.”

After a wet and windy start to the week, Thursday was bright and sunny, with not a drop of rain. The two qualifying sessions of the Le Mans 24 Hour race were scheduled for 7 pm to 9 pm & 10 pm to midnight. Narain drove in both the day & night sessions, and concentrated on improving his feel of the car and learning about the track conditions in the dry. His no.14 Kolles Audi R10TDi will line up in 14th place out of 55 entries for the start of the race on Saturday at 3 pm local time. 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.

“I’m quite satisfied with our qualifying effort. We have a very reliable car which has proven itself for the past 3 years here at Le Mans and 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 are 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 tomorrow is just like it was starting my first F1 race in Melbourne in 2005.”

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