5th Spot clinched by Narain
Narain Karthikeyan clinched the fifth spot on the grid for Sunday's sprint race in the A1GP at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. It is the best ever qualifying slot for India in the A1GP Series so far.Narain registered the fourth quickest time in all the three practice sessions. He further accelerated in the unique four-segment qualifying session to set his two fastest laps of the weekend on his third and fourth laps, which ultimately decided the team's grid position."I messed up the first qualifying lap by getting the middle sector wrong. Also, I was carrying too much speed and the car just didn't want to work. After that, I adjusted my driving style, went into the corners a bit slower, and the lap times picked up.
"It feels like you're actually going much slower, but it's faster on the clock, and that's the way you have to drive an A1GP car. I think we have a good car here. We need to be consistent and look after the tyres, especially in the Feature race."Narain, who had driven an F1 car around the Shanghai circuit, said the A1GP car felt quite different. "The A1GP car is better when not driven aggressively, and you have to carry much less speed into the corners.A1 Team India will be keen on improving its position in the Sprint race. "I think some people may be cautious in the Sprint race as they will be thinking of their championship standings, but that's not the case for us. We will be going for it from race one."Also, there is nothing for us to lose because I have joined the team only in the middle of the season. But, we want to get the best results possible in these last races," he added.
