By Rahul Banerji
Racing Team India ended their maiden Asian Le Mans series campaign fifth in the overall standings, with two solid finishes at Abu Dhabi over the weekend.
The first all-Indian team to compete on the international endurance racing stage, Racing Team India came away from the the United Arab Emirates with an all top-five finish record.
At Dubai last week, they were fifth and fourth, and added two fifth-place finishes at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Narain Karthikeyan, Arjun Maini and Naveen Rao, raced their Oreca 07 LMP2 to solid placings on Saturday and Sunday as they continue to progress towards the Le Mans dream.
Backed by JK Tyres and with technical support from reigning Asian Le Mans champions Algarve Pro Racing, Racing Team India had gone into the Abu Dhabi season-ender hoping to build on the Dubai showing.
Racing incidents however, hindered the #64 challenger’s chances of maximising its potential.
The team’s first season of competition offered plenty of positives however.
Good pace
Faced with a steep learning curve, the outfit showed they had the speed to fight at the front. The Indian tri-colour liveried car even led the second Dubai race at one stage.
Former F1 racer Karthikeyan and European Le Mans veteran Maini were blisteringly quick, showing all of their racing experience.
2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge Champion Naveen Rao also made big strides forward in performance levels from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
Racing Team India in a statement noted the efforts of the Asian Le Mans Series and the ACO.
“Organisers were extremely supportive of the team’s effort and goals and welcomed the team with open arms,” they said.
“The sun is setting on the #asianlemansseries. @racingteamindia will be back. @ Yas Marina Circuit,” the team tweeted.
Also read: Solid debut for Racing Team India in first step to Le Mans
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