Chandhok geared up for Le Mans show

Seasoned Indian driver Karun Chandhok, who returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race after a one-year gap, has a tougher task at hand this weekend with debutant team Tock with Ligier in the LMP2 class.

Chandhok, back for a fifth time and the only Indian to compete in the race, drove in last month’s FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa to get comfortable with the car.

He will share the racing duty with young debutant Philip Hanson and Nigel Moore.

Also now a well-known Formula One pundit, the former Grand Prix driver says he can’t wait to get back racing at Le Mans.

“Realistically, I’m with a rookie team and with a rookie team mate who’s 17 years old so it’s going to be a challenge to get a strong result,” he said.

“We’re in a Ligier chassis and judging by the official test session, we don’t seem to have the pace of the Oreca chassis which looked very strong.

“It’s a 24 hour race and lots can happen so we’ll just keep our heads down and work away but I think if we get in the top 6 we would have done very well considering all this,” said Chandhok. The race draws a live audience of 300,000 spectators and forms part of the trio of blue-riband events in motorsports, along with the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. The LMP2 class where Tockwith Motorsport are competing, is experiencing a resurgence.

With 25 cars on the grid, Chandhok will be racing alongside several drivers that he has competed against over the years including Bruno Senna, Nico Prost, Nelson Piquet Jr and Jean Eric Vergne.

“The grid in LMP2 this year is going to feature one of the strongest ever line-ups. There are a lot of experienced teams and drivers and I’m under no illusions of how difficult the task ahead will be as a rookie team heading to Le Mans,” Chandhok said.