Karthikeyan Optimistic Despite Gap
Narain Karthikeyan is optimistic of a strong San Marino Grand Prix tomorrow despite failing to escape the penultimate row of the grid
The Jordan driver wound up 17th, two seconds behind the closest rival and another two ahead of his own teammate Tiago Monteiro.
"The track here at Imola is quite tricky as you need to use the kerbs a lot if you want to make a quick lap," said Karthikeyan. "I have lost a bit of time in the first sector but otherwise I think I did a decent lap.
"We have made some progress and if we keep making similar steps, we will improve. I am pretty positive for the rest of the weekend and I am looking forward to tomorrow."
Monteiro had a disappointing day after failing to get heat into his tyres during his flying lap, and the Portuguese also paid the price for the lost time in this morning's practice sessions.
Despite the huge gap to his teammate, the rookie was still well clear of the Minardis, who were slowest today.
"I am a bit disappointed with my lap," he said. "I made a few mistakes this morning in both free practice sessions and I lost maybe 40 minutes of running which would have been very useful. The car felt different with new tyres and low fuel so I had to get used to it while still pushing.
"Otherwise I am happy with the progress we have made on the car even though I have some catch up to do tomorrow."
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