Karun back in action for JRM Racing
Silverstone, 23 Aug 2012: Ten weeks after finishing its inaugural Le Mans 24 Hours in a superb sixth place overall and second in the privateers’ classification, Indian racing star Karun Chandhok’s JRM Racing takes on its next challenge this weekend, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, the fourth round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. JRM Racing is currently second in the World Endurance Championship LMP1 standings, only 24 points behind the current leaders, Rebellion Racing.
It will be Karun’s first race in nearly two months after his historic 6th place in the legendary Le Mans 24hr race. Compared to the 24-hr race in Le Mans, this weekend’s race in Silverstone will be a 6-hr race. Silverstone is not only home to the team JRM Racing, but is also Karun’s second home as he has done countless miles around the Northamptonshire circuit.
Karun Chandhok, who became the first Indian to start and finish Le Mans this year, added, ‘I’m excited about this weekend. We had a good test in Aragon last week, made some good progress that we can put into practice at Silverstone. It’s our home race – as a team and all three drivers are based very close to the track – so we want to do well, and I think we have a good chance of succeeding. I have always enjoyed driving around the Silverstone circuit so feels good to be back here. We know that Audi and Toyota are in front but the competition around us is hard, so our goal is to be the best of the privateers. It’s not easy but the progress we’ve made since Le Mans gives us a lot of encouragement.’
Team Principal James Rumsey, commented, ‘We are really excited about the event this weekend. While it is our home race and it would be amazing to do well here in front of our fans, families and friends, the event is our first race in the championship post Le Mans and the first race we go to fully prepared. ‘After winning the FIA GT1 Championship last year, we entered the WEC in the LMP1 category very late on and in just over a month, assembled a team and bought a Honda Performance Developments ARX-03a LMP1 car. Le Mans is where we started to hit our stride and the result showed how much ground we had covered. Now we’ve got that confidence we need to hit peak form at Silverstone. Clawing back the points from Rebellion and going to the overseas races of the championship closer to them has got to be the aim.’
Team Manager and Chief Engineer Nigel Stepney, explained how the team will set out to achieve this objective, ‘Silverstone will be the first race we go to feeling confident in where we are, and able to consolidate form rather than lay foundations. The first part of the year was tough with the car assembled for the first time just hours before the start of Sebring and then a difficult race in Spa. Nobody gives you a book on how to do it – we had to learn how to work together on the LMP1 car and the drivers needed to gel. It all came together over Le Mans; the car had a new aero package, we understood the Michelin tyres a lot more and the drivers came together as a unit.
‘Last week we went to Aragon for a two day test, our first test since Le Mans and the first time we have had more than a day’s test with the car. This ironed out any remaining creases and got us back up to speed before this weekend. Of course the result in Le Mans was a boost to everyone’s confidence, but we feel equally confident in the progress we have made since then.’
About JRM
After winning the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship with Nissan, The British-based JRM Racing will partner with Honda Performance Developments to enter the brand new FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class. JRM Racing will enter a single LMP1 Honda Performance Development ARX-03a powered by a specially designed and tested 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine. The ARX-03a is currently hailed as the most competitive petrol Le Mans Prototype around.
Race Weekend Schedule – ALL TIMES IN IST
2012, August 24th – 26th
Free practice 1 – Fri 24th August – 3:30pm IST
Free practice 2 – Fri 24th August – 8:30pm IST
Free practice 3 – Sat 25th August – 3:30pm IST
Qualifying – Sat 25th August – 7:20pm IST
Warm-up – Sun 26th August – 1:25pm IST
Race – Sun 26th August – 4:30pm IST
You can watch live streaming of the at www.fiawec.com starting 4:30PM on Sunday
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