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Chandhok excels in superlative weekend
Knockhill, Scotland, May 18: Indian Formula 3 star Karun Chandhok had his best race weekend of the season at the Knockhill circuit here with two very strong top six finishes to cap off what was all in all an encouraging weekend.
Knockhill, Scotland, May 18: Indian Formula 3 star Karun Chandhok had his best race weekend of the season at the Knockhill circuit here with two very strong top six finishes to cap off what was all in all an encouraging weekend.
Things started brilliantly for Karun during the Friday practice sessions when he ended the first session of the morning fastest overall. He ultimately ended the day second fastest but just .04s slower than Australian Will Power.
This was indeed a shock to much of the pitlanes who weren't used to seeing the 20-year-old so far up the order.
The qualifying sessions were extremely eventful affairs. In the first session, Karun laid down the gauntlet with a spectacular time of 47.8 seconds which put him on provisional position by almost half a second at the half way stage when the session was stopped to clear out a crashed car.
When the session re-started, Karun improved his time straight away to a 47.7s despite passing another car on that lap, but then on the very next flying lap, he made a small mistake at the chicane, which sent him into the tyre barrier ending his session. As the track conditions and consequently laptimes improved, the Indian dropped down the order to an eventual eighth.
The second qualifying session was even more exciting with finally the top six drivers being covered by just over one tenth of a second and the top 15 by just over half a second.
''I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't have pole for the first one. It was looking really good at the half way stage and on my best lap I passed someone at the hairpin which cost me .38 of a second -- enough to be on pole. The second one was a bit better and we ended up fifth but it's so close. To put it into perspective, a blink of the eye is about three tenths of a second which means that the top 15 are covered by less than two blinks of the eye,'' the Indian said.
In the first race, Karun made a good start and was chasing the Scotsman Andrew Thompson hard on the opening lap. As the pair came towards the final hairpin to finish the lap, Karun attempted a move around the outside, which caused Thompson to outbrake himself and lose out to the Indian on the way out of the corner.
Karun then got embroiled in a three-way scrap for fourth place with the Irishman Adam Carroll and the Carlin Motorsport driver, Clivio Piccione. But with overtaking opportunities limited and the drivers evenly matched, the order stayed the same for the remaining 24 laps with Chandhok eventually sitting right behind Piccione to take sixth position.
Bureau Report
Things started brilliantly for Karun during the Friday practice sessions when he ended the first session of the morning fastest overall. He ultimately ended the day second fastest but just .04s slower than Australian Will Power.
This was indeed a shock to much of the pitlanes who weren't used to seeing the 20-year-old so far up the order.
The qualifying sessions were extremely eventful affairs. In the first session, Karun laid down the gauntlet with a spectacular time of 47.8 seconds which put him on provisional position by almost half a second at the half way stage when the session was stopped to clear out a crashed car.
When the session re-started, Karun improved his time straight away to a 47.7s despite passing another car on that lap, but then on the very next flying lap, he made a small mistake at the chicane, which sent him into the tyre barrier ending his session. As the track conditions and consequently laptimes improved, the Indian dropped down the order to an eventual eighth.
The second qualifying session was even more exciting with finally the top six drivers being covered by just over one tenth of a second and the top 15 by just over half a second.
''I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't have pole for the first one. It was looking really good at the half way stage and on my best lap I passed someone at the hairpin which cost me .38 of a second -- enough to be on pole. The second one was a bit better and we ended up fifth but it's so close. To put it into perspective, a blink of the eye is about three tenths of a second which means that the top 15 are covered by less than two blinks of the eye,'' the Indian said.
In the first race, Karun made a good start and was chasing the Scotsman Andrew Thompson hard on the opening lap. As the pair came towards the final hairpin to finish the lap, Karun attempted a move around the outside, which caused Thompson to outbrake himself and lose out to the Indian on the way out of the corner.
Karun then got embroiled in a three-way scrap for fourth place with the Irishman Adam Carroll and the Carlin Motorsport driver, Clivio Piccione. But with overtaking opportunities limited and the drivers evenly matched, the order stayed the same for the remaining 24 laps with Chandhok eventually sitting right behind Piccione to take sixth position.
Bureau Report