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Q & A with JRM sportscar racer Karun Chandhok

Former HRT and Team Lotus Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok started his first sportscar race at last weekend's Sebring 12 Hours, the opening round of the FIA's new World Endurance Championship. After qualifying fifth along with co-drivers Peter Dumbreck and David Brabham, Chandhok's hopes of a top-three finish - and petrol-powered honours - in his JRM-run HPD were dashed by a suspension failure. The car was classified 17th after a lengthy repair job

Q: Did you enjoy your experience at Sebring, as it's a pretty tough place to start isn't it?

Karun Chandhok: Yeah, the track is proper old school and I loved it. I really enjoy going to tracks with character and history rather than the sanitised, super-clean asphalt run-off places that the new tracks are these days. The bumps are pretty bad but it adds to the challenge and the atmosphere is fantastic. The fans are completely crazy - at night during the final half hour there were bonfires and fireworks going off in all the camp sites which made seeing some corners a bit tricky! Plus, we had the car delivered so late that we missed the Monday and Tuesday test, so I only did about 30 timed laps in total before the race.

Q: How did it compare to your previous single-seater experiences?

KC: It was a very enjoyable weekend actually. I was a bit nervous before going to Sebring, as I didn't fully know what to expect from the car or the format of the race weekend, but overall I have to say it was a pleasant surprise. Obviously the car is a lot heavier and has less power than an F1 car, but they've got a good amount of downforce and are very enjoyable to drive once you get it dialled in.

Q: Was it hard watching someone else drive your car?

KC: Well, I had plenty of experience of that in F1! But this was different because, for a change, I was actually willing my team-mate on. It's such a big mental shift because in F1 and GP2 you work with your team-mate, but you always try to get one over them when the racing starts. But here you want to help your team-mate because the quicker he goes, the better the result is for you also.

Q: Where would you have expected to finish if you didn't have technical problems?

KC: Peter [Dumbreck] had just moved into third place after nine hours when the rear suspension let go. We were wheel to wheel with the Muscle Milk car, and they don't score WEC points. We were a whole lap ahead of the Nick Heidfeld/Neel Jani/Nicolas Prost Rebellion car so a podium was looking good. We had a bit more pace than the Rebellion car in the race, I think, so we could've held on for a certain WEC podium and nip and tuck with Muscle Milk for the overall podium.

Q: How did you stack-up to your more experienced co-drivers - in qualifying and in the race with traffic, etc?

KC: The traffic was the hardest part. In the first practice session I kept trying to create a gap to get a clear lap, like you would in F1, but that clear lap never came. David gave me the best bit of advice all weekend after that, which was: "Just ignore them and pretend that you just have to take a different line on every lap." I also saw the Audi guys come past and they were so aggressive in traffic - on the grass, over the kerbs, really attacking, so from the next session onwards I just changed my approach and the times started to come. I am my own biggest critic - I know when I've driven badly and when I'm driving well, and I felt that apart from the first practice at Sebring I was in the good zone. Considering David [Brabham] has driven more sportscars than even he can probably remember, I was very pleased that my pace was within a few tenths of him all weekend. I still have a lot to learn about the actual races and the prototype cars, but it's been a very positive start.

Q: How did you cope with the speed differential between the LMP1 and GT cars?

KC: It can be tricky but actually the bigger problem I found was the LMP2 cars, because they're only a bit slower than us. They generally don't really seem to be in the mood to let us by easily. The GT guys know they can't match us for pace, but the LMP2 cars sometimes tried to race me and ended up costing us both unnecessary time.

Q: How much quicker than you were the Audis?

KC: On average it looked like the Audi's were about 2 seconds a lap quicker than everyone else but behind them, the battle to be best of the rest is very tight. When I followed them on track, they also seemed to have a big advantage in traffic because they have so much torque with the diesel engine, they can pull out of corners quicker and get past cars more easily. It'll be interesting to see where Toyota stack up when they join the championship.

Q: What was it like driving in the dark? Did you like it?

KC: The team seemed very happy with how quickly I got up to pace - on my second lap in the night practice I matched my time from the daylight and then I did the triple stint in the dark to finish the race. That was the most enjoyable part because we had lost 25 minutes with the suspension problem and it was just maximum attack - two hours of qualifying laps. I decided even if I couldn't do the ideal 1m48-1m49s I would somehow target at least the 1m52s even on my slowest laps with lots of traffic, so I pushed like hell every lap. It's been a long time since I really had fun like that in a race car.

Q: What are the targets from here for JRM for the rest of the year?

KC: I think our realistic aim every time out is to be best of the rest behind the manufacturer-run cars from Audi and Toyota.

Q: What did you think was the level of the series? Does it feel like F1 for sportscars?

KC: When I walked into the paddock there were so many familiar faces from F1 and GP2 there, it was a real surprise. The teams are very professional and you really have to be on it for every lap of every stint to be competitive. In a way it is a bit like F1 - you have the big budget top teams and then the smaller budget, privateer ones fighting for the odd podium. The atmosphere is a bit less intense which is nice but the rules are more confusing! The FIA seem to be pushing the series - I met Jean Todt in Sebring and he seems to be fully behind it - which is great. The calendar is fantastic especially to have Le Mans and Sebring as points-scoring races so, yes, it's certainly a proper crack at making it F1 for sportscars.

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