GP2 Asia - Europe series 2008

[kallu]

good drive by karun, he even had luck on his side , which had been missing !!.. when Mike conway spun on the last lap giving away 3rd to karun.

[jaydeep]

Terrific result for Karun, who was 4th until the last lap ... Little slip up by 3rd place Mike Conway and Karun take full advantage of it and scored podium finish at Monaco ...

GP2 Series: Karun, third today which is possibly unexpected for you: how did you see it?

Karun Chandhok - I was looking for fourth really, because in the first stint Valles was quite slow and that allowed the top three guys to take off, so I was just sitting there waiting for him to pit: as soon as he pitted I went a lot quicker straight away. Then I was stuck behind Grosjean: again he was slow and in traffic, and behind Tung, so the first two-thirds of the race was just frustrating and I had to be patient, sit in traffic, sit in traffic, sit in traffic. As soon as they got out of the way bang, I could do a good time and I kept doing that, and then after Tung got out of the way it was just me and Mike, and I was making 1.6, 1.7 seconds a lap on him: I was really catching him. Then I don't know what happened: Javi says that Mike braked early at the tunnel, but I have no idea because I didn't see anything: I came out of the tunnel and all I saw was Javi in the middle of the road and Mike sideways, so I had a really good laugh for the rest of the lap, all the way to the line! I have to say that fourth was what I was aiming for, but third is a nice little bonus: it's Monaco, got a podium, happy days.

GP2 Series: You made a good start but then were stuck in traffic: how hard is it to deal with that frustration?

Karun - Yeah, but my race was compromised a bit by qualifying yesterday: I lost four tenths really on what I could have done, so I should have been in the top three, and then you just sit there in traffic and your race is compromised by that. It's a tough race, Monaco: it's not physically demanding by mentally it's very, very tough and you have to really be on the ball for a long time, but the team did a fantastic job, the cars were brilliant, both Bruno and mine, and so it's well deserved for the team: we've had a lot of shit luck this year.

GP2 Series: And a 1-3 shows they're pretty on top of the new car...

Karun - Yeah, we're pretty on the ball. We've been quick everywhere: in Barcelona Bruno finished second and I would have easily had fourth if we didn't have to stack in the pitstop, Istanbul we were quick and I finished fourth there, so I think we've got pace.

GP2 Series: And tomorrow?

Karun - There are a lot of slower guys in front of us! But you can't pass so it's just going to be a race of patience, and wait and see what happens: just sit and wait, hopefully get off the line well, and obviously starting tomorrow where I started today in P6 worked well: I got grandad [Pantano] off the line today, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Karun's podium photo

[jaydeep]

But in second race Karun and Maldonado crashed on first lap ...

Karun needs to be consistent in both races on race weekend, in last race also he faced same problem.

Jaydeep

[kallu]

I spoke too soon about having good luck...
 

[jaydeep]

At Magny-Cours race track, i-Sports's Bruno Senna qualified on top of the grid and Karun Chandhok on 10th.

But in race 1, Bruno Senna couldn't finished the race and Karun finished on 7th position ... In race 2, fortune changed as Bruno finished on 4th but Karun couldn't finished in wet condition.

Jaydeep

[jaydeep]

Karun again struggled in wet condition at Silverstone and couldn't finished the second race.

But in feature race on Saturday, Karun scored podium finish ... He finished on the third position ..

Pantano storms to feature race victory

[kallu]

he is really struggling on sundays !! ...consistency seems to be the problem for our indian drivers !...
but congrats on the podium..Hope he bounces back and scores points consistently in both races

[Prem]

Karun WINS !in Germany today !!!!!
He qualified on pole position and went on to WIN and move to 6th in the standings.
His team isport leads the drivers championships 
Great result and hope he puts in some consistent performance in the second half of the season....

[jaydeep]

Salute to Karun for his first Sprint Race victory ...

Check race photos from GP2 Series site

On Saturday in Feature race Karun finished on 8th place in wet condition ... But in Sprint Race Karun had different plan ...

He started from pole, but lost lead to Lucas di Grassi for few minutes but he grabbed lead back overtaking Grassi ... But his biggest challenge came from Andreas Zuber, who was faster than Karun but just could not find a way to make a move due to superb strong and mature race from Karun ... Again congrats to Karun to take a long overdue win in the sprint race.

Chandhok powers to race two victory

[jaydeep]

Here r Karun's comments -

GP2 Series - Karun, a little while between drinks for you but you're a race winner again, here in Hockenheim: how does it feel?
Karun Chandhok - Very good, this time is a little different to Spa last year, because Spa I was just really, really pleased but this time there is a little relief as well because this year I came into it believing we were fast enough, knowing we were fast enough to win races but it didn't happen in Asia, and for a number of reasons I think we got robbed of a few wins there. I was really, really pissed off after Asia, so it's really nice to get one under our belts here: we've had good race pace all season long you know, in Monaco and Silverstone, and we've struggled a little bit in qualifying for a few reasons but yeah, just very pleased. And I'm really pleased for the team as well, to get two drivers to have won a race, so I'm just really pleased and I just love working with these guys: they're the best team I've ever worked with, they're just so good to get along with, and with Bruno as I well because I think we get along better than any other teammates in the pitlane. It's just a great feeling right now.

GP2 Series - Was it the best way to get it done: start from pole and just fight from the front?
Karun - Yeah, but we lost off the line! It was a pressure race you know, it wasn't an easy race: okay, starting from the front but it was a pressure race the whole way because Zuber was quick here all weekend and qualified third, and Bruno is quick as well, but I was quite comfortable and don't think I made any mistakes: I had a second gap to Zuber and just sat there, and the team did a great job to keep me informed of where things stood, where we were quick and where we weren't, and that helped things a lot.

GP2 Series - Was it just a case of managing the race? You didn't set any fastest laps, but you always looked comfortable there...
Karun - We had fastest lap very early on in the race, but I wasn't too fussed to be honest because I just wanted to make sure we looked after the rear tyres: the last thing I wanted was to have a situation like Grosjean had in Silverstone where he destroyed the tyres and then couldn't do anything for the last ten laps. I'd rather have the six points for the win than the one point for fastest lap!

GP2 Series - It has been a bit of a monkey of your back getting the win here: can this help you for the remainder of the season?
Karun - Yeah, we've had pace all season long at places like Silverstone and Istanbul, and in Monaco we had good race pace: it's just nice to get one under the belt as an indication that we can complete the job as well.

[kallu]

Hungary round race 1

Karun lost few places at he start due to wheelspin...bt still managed to finish 4th !!

1) Di grassi
2) Zuber
3) Senna
4) Chandhok
5) Maldonado

Karun Chandhok: I got too much wheelspin at the start - the clutch map seemed to have reset itself and I just didn't get away as cleanly as I would have liked. I then found myself boxed on the inside at Turn One, but the important thing was to get through the corner without touching anyone so I didn't take any chances.I had a little bit of understeer prior to the tyre stops, but felt I was closing slightly on Bruno, then we fitted fresh rear tyres and the understeer got worse! After the stops I just stroked it home, really. The car was good enough for a top-four finish but I just needed a little bit more if I was to challenge for the podium

[jaydeep]

Karun Chandhok qualified on 5th position on starting grid ... With smart pit-stop by his team iSport helped him to finish on 4th position and his team-mate Bruno Senna grabbed last podium finish in feature race.

Today in sprint race Karun is starting from 5th on grid and his team-mate Senna will start from 6th.

[jaydeep]

Karun race ended in first lap of Sunday's Sprint race ... Other hand Senna captured another poium and he is now only 7 pts behind championship leader Pantano.

Jaydeep

[kallu]

karun must be hating sundays...i think this is the 6th dnf on a sunday...

[jaydeep]

At Valencia, Karun qualified on 12th position on the grid ... But had poor outing, he couldn't finish race in feature and sprint races ... In feature race they had fuel drama as 4 cars tank were empty on the final lap ... Karun made a mistake and contacted Vitaly Petrov on lap 18 ... This mistake turned costly as he penalised for next race.

Karun Chandhok penalised and receives a ten grid place penalty for Spa-Francorchamps, the next GP2 2008 event, after he caused a collision with Vitaly Petrov, who also failed to finish the race.

Jaydeep