Indian racing driver Karun Chandhok helped his team Murphy Prototypes qualify in the ninth place in the LMP2 class and 17th overall for the iconic Le Mans 24 hours race here on Wednesday.
Chandhok’s best lap of 3:44.538 was the fasted from his team, which has Brendon Hartley and Mark Patterson as the other two drivers.
The opening qualifying session finished early due to barrier damage at the second Mulsanne chicane, cutting the session short by 55 minutes.
In the first practice session, which was held in the evening, the team was placed 23rd with Patterson driving.
The morning was full of of rain and hailstorm which meant there was lack of grip in the first practice session. Patterson finished practice session before Chandhok took over for the first qualifying practice session.
Chandhok focused on setting up the car for the race and clocked 3:44:538.
“There wasn’t time for qualifying laps as we were still on reasonably used tyres. We were still setting up for the race because of the red flags, so we didn’t have time to do anything.
“It was pretty crazy how much time we lost, so we just focused on race set-up. We’re not badly placed, but we’ve got plenty of work to do,” Chandhok said.
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Paes, stepanek crash out in quarter-finals
Eastbourne (England), June 20: Playing their first tournament together in five months, third seeds Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek suffered an upset defeat against Jamie Murray and John Peers in the quarter-finals of the Aegon International.
The Indo-Czech combination had began well but lost 6-1, 3-6, 5-10 to the British-Australian combination in the last-eight stage of the grass-court event that serves as a warm-up for Wimbledon.
It was first time Paes and Stepanek were playing together since competing in the Australian Open in January.
A neck injury, which required surgery, had forced Stepanek out of action. They have been seeded fourth at Wimbledon. — PTI