Karun Chandhok – First Indian to Win GP2 Race

Karun Chandhok became the first Indian driver to win a GP2 Series event.

Karun Chandhok has taken an emotional victory in Spa-Francorchamps for Durango, the first indian ever in the GP2 Series and Durango’s first win since Nurburgring 2005. A clearly overwhelmed Karun wept on the podium as the Indian national anthem rang out for the first time at a Grand Prix. Karun won the race with a stunning pass on Andy Soucek who finished second top take DPR’s first podium of the season, with Lucas di Grassi third for ART Grand Prix.

This win has pushed the 23-year-old up five places from 19th to 15th in the standings with 15 points.

A most delighted Chandhok, who started second on the grid on Sunday morning, won his first podium of the year and the biggest in his career when he powered to win the sprint race, setting it up by blasting past Andy Soucek with a risky, yet impressive manoeuvre.

Karun Chandok said

When we got to the first corner, Pung pushed me wide and Soucek took the lead. I knew that for the first few laps, it was important to drive carefully and look after my tyres. Once I got to lap five, I pushed harder and caught him.

Vijay Mallya, who has recently acquired Spyker F1 team, hasn’t kept his wish of having an Indian driver in the cockpit a secret. Karun Chandhok is one of the names being talked about along with Narain Karthikeyan, who’s the only Indian driver with Formula One experience.