5:30 PM The recap of a ridiculous first hour is below: http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=332165
Even despite the Peugeot pit dustup and subsequent debris scattering, or the Premat Audi going off at the get-go, or the incredible battle in GT2 with four cars separated by less than four seconds for the lead, or the inevitable early retirement of the JLOC Lambo, these were not the oddest or most bizarre moments of the first hour.
Kolles Audi driver Narain Karthikeyan (pictured, left with Barazi-Epsilon's Phil Bennett, another late entrant to the field), who I must say is not exactly very fan or media-friendly, had a freak incident before the race even started. He didn't bother to stop to sign autographs for the thousands of fans lining the streets of downtown Le Mans during yesterday's driving parade, and when I saw him during this afternoon's grid walk he didn't feel like smiling or talking.
Alas, I figure it's excusable because he is focused on the race. Or in this case, going to use the facilities.
And that's when one of the more freak incidents I can ever remember occurred.
We got word just before the start that Charles Zwolsman would wind up starting as opposed to Narain, when the Dutch driver wasn't expecting it. Why, you ask? It turns out Karthikeyan disclocated his shoulder while climbing a pit wall en route to the bathroom.
"I was trying to go and take a leak," Karthikeyan told AUTOSPORT. "I jumped up on to the pit wall but slipped and ended up hanging by one hand. I can't believe it."
Karthikeyan is one of the Kolles' teams six (yes, six!) rookie drivers in an LM P1 prototype and for that matter, an Audi R10 TDI. While all have adequate if unspectacular credentials, there is really no reason other than their wallets for being able to have the privilege of wheeling the same car, albeit modified, that has won the last three 24H of LM.
Zwolsman and Andre Lotterer - the German only called into the car this week for scrutineering - may wind up doing the entire 24H themselves, as Karthikeyan's status for the remainder of the race is questionable.
2 comments:
weird way to "retire" from the race. was it a blown tire? a hand-grenaded engine? a wanker who got in the way? no, he fell off a wall trying to take a leak. he should have just peed himself in the race car!
it is reject-worthy material for sure. he avoids being an official F1 reject candidate because he got 4th in the joke that was the 05 USGP.
Post a Comment