No podium finish for Armaan after engine problem

New Delhi: Indian racer Armaan Ebrahim`s hopes of a podium finish in the Indy500 race on the world famous Indianapolis Speedway in the US went up in smoke after an engine failure.

The first Indian to race in the celebrated Indy500 weekend, the Chennai youngster was representing Team Team Fan Force United-JK Tyres. Armaan was well placed for a podium finish in his very first outing there after a strong finish in the official test in which he was just 2 tenths of a second off pole position. Going into the qualifying, which is just 2 timed laps, the engine straight away was down by 4 miles per hour. Despite this, Armaan`s aggregate time over 2 laps managed to put him 10th on the grid. However, when the flag went green, the average speed per lap dropped from 187 to 182 mph and a couple of laps later, the engine blew up in white smoke. The race was marred by a high speed crash involving five cars with one of them being the FFU 2nd car driver by Emerson Newton John. The 100-mile race ended with Esteban Gurreri taking the chequered flag. "It`s hard to say much right now. I was really on top of the world after the test as given that it was my first ever outing on the Indy Oval and being just 2 tenths of pole, I was really looking forward for a podium finish. "It is really disappointing when you get let down by a blown engine and there is nothing you can do about it," said Armaan. PTI