The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Mixed feelings for Narain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 09, 2005

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Mixed feelings for Narain

Vijay Parthasarathy

CHENNAI: Narain Karthikeyan will leave Barcelona with mixed feelings after finishing the Spanish Grand Prix in 13th place on Sunday. That he finished at all, in challenging track conditions, will please him to an extent. But the relief will be tempered by the knowledge that he finished behind Tiago Monteiro at the Circuit de Catalunya, and three laps behind eventual winner Kimi Raikkonen.

The 28-year-old Indian qualified just ahead of his Portuguese rival on the grid in 13th place after the final session in the morning. But a mistake on the 13th lap caused him to swerve off the track and head into the gravel; and Monteiro, who was at that point trailing only marginally behind, seized the advantage to pull ahead in slightly unconvincing fashion.

"I had some serious trouble with the engine right from the sixth lap onwards; then the electronics turned haywire, I was being fed wrong readings. I'm glad I actually managed to finish the race, but still it's very disappointing. I'm unhappy my car was simply unable to gain anything on the long straight. It's probably my worst race of the season," Narain said over the phone immediately after the race.

Keen contest

While the Minardis failed to finish yet again, the competition between the Jordan cars is getting interesting. Narain has appeared the better driver until now - quicker in qualifying and more secure over 60 odd laps - but as far as the standings go, Monteiro is in a better position, relatively speaking, after finishing all his five races. Narain's car unfortunately gave out on him in Bahrain, but in the other three races - Melbourne, Sepang and Imola - he has managed to finish ahead of Monteiro.

"It's a healthy rivalry, yes," Narain said, "but if things hadn't gone wrong, I can't help thinking I would have finished ahead of him again."

Both Jordans appeared to struggle with traction over the weekend. Narain said he was extremely disappointed with the tyres' performance in Sunday's race. To be fair, the track was abrasive, but after yet another bad weekend for Ferrari, Bridgestone will be under some pressure to improve on its packages in time for the Monaco GP, two weeks from now.

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