Karun Chandhok enjoys seamless transition

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Karun Chandhok enjoyed a seamless transition from the ritzy world of Formula One racing to less-appealing sportscars series on Sunday.

Making his debut at the newly-launched World Endurance Championship, the Chennai driver played a significant role in British team JRM Racing’s seventh place finish in the premier Prototype category at the historic Sebring 12-hr race in Florida (United States).

Karun’s team, who qualified sixth and were fighting for a podium at one stage, had to settle 17th overall (64 total entries in six different classes) when their Honda HPD vehicle had a suspension problem towards the end of the gruelling race. JRM completed 309 laps while the winners Audi (Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello) did 325 laps.

Karun said he thoroughly enjoyed his first endurance outing despite suspension issue taking the team out of third place. “Really gut wrenching for the team after hours of hard work. If we hadn’t lost 15 laps with the suspension problem, we would have finished third or even second overall,” Karun added.

When two hours left for the chequered flag, Scot Peter Dumbreck passed on the baton to Karun who played the anchor to perfection by pushing the car to the limit under light. Karun helped the team move up from 23rd to 17th.

Private team JRM’s impressive pace caught the eye as they were running closer to the factory-run Audi teams who have rich experience of competing in the sportscar series. “We had our first test only a four days before the race so I am pleased with the cars performance. We have proved that we are the best team outside the Audi cars. I am looking forward to the rest of the season,” added Karun.

The 28-year-old who was part of Lotus F1 team last year said he prefers racing in any series to being an F1 test driver which has limited role.

JRM team principal James Rumsey was all praise for Karun.

“The team has three great drivers. All of them bring a wealth of experience — in different ways. We are delighted with the way Karun settled into the team quickly. He has already proved that he’s fast – even though driving sportscars is a completely new experience for him. I am sure that having three drivers of such good quality is going to make a big difference and give us an advantage over some of the other teams. Whatever happens, there’s no doubt we have an exciting season ahead us,” he informed.