Narain Karthikeyan overwhelmed near Le Mans' popularity

Mumbai: Narain Karthikeyan is overwhelmed near the sea of people that has thronged the Le Mans circuit in France for the famous 24 hours race. "Today, there are on 200,000 crowds. For the race starting tomorrow, there should be 100,000 more," Narain told DNA on phone from the Le Mans track after the drivers' parade. "In terms of popularity, compared to Le Mans, Formula One looks small," he added.

Narain Karthikeyan, who is the first Indian driver to participate in Le Mans 24 hours race, said that the race is a big challenge.

"During qualifying, I realised how tough it is driving at night. With headlights on and the rear view mirror flashing the lights of the cars behind, it is a bit confusing. During practice, I even missed couple of corners and apex. Driving in dark will be the biggest challenge on Saturday night and Sunday morning," he added.

Narain's team qualified in 14th place in an Audi R10. He said he was happy among the car and the team's qualifying performance. "In Le Mans, qualifying doesn't matter a lot. The Audi R10 is a reliable car and I am hoping for a top 10 finish," he said.

Narain, who will be starting the race for team Kolles (the other team drivers and Charles Zwolman Jr with Andre Lotterer) feels the Peugeots are by far the quickest.
In the qualifying session, Narain did 7 laps at night and 15 laps during daytime.