Qualifying was quite eventful for Armaan. With 5 minutes to go, Armaan was in P1 with just 5 minutes of the session remaining which were going to be the crucial laps as the street circuit in Marrakech was dirty and with every passing lap, the track was getting better and better. For an some reason, Armaan pulled into the pits with just 2 laps left for the session and to everyone’s dismay, he thought the team had called him in. It so happened that he saw the wrong pit board which was for another driver. The last 2 laps cost him 7 places as it was too late for him to go out on track again after pitting. He thus qualified 8th. Looking good for top 5 finish on the 4.4 km long street circuit, Armaan had no problems on his warm up and sighting laps. But when he rolled up on to the starting grid, the engine failed and did not start. The mechanics tried frantically to identify the problem and by the time they detected the problem, the race start time has come. The car was thus pushed into the pits and by the time the mechanics fixed the problem, the race had started and Armaan started half a lap behind.

Then the safety car came out on lap 2 and this allowed Armaan to pull up behind the entire pack. When the safety car came out, Armaan was on fire and passed about 5 cars within 2 laps, and within another 3 to 4 laps, had passed another 4 cars. Before the 2nd safety car came out, Armaan was in 9th place. On resumption of the race for the 3rd time, Armaan made two fantastic moves on Kazim and Afanasiev, both past F2 race winners. Armaan was then in 7th place and at this point, championship leader Jonathan Palmer’s car stopped due to a gearbox problem and this allowed Armaan to move into 6th place. There was another incident towards the end of the race with 3 laps to go and the race finished behind the safety car. With If’s and But’s had the last 3 laps run under green, it was looking very possible for Armaan to make the podium. For sure, this was the most courageous and brilliant race that Armaan has driven. It was of true character and fantastic grit. To start last from the Pit lane and finish 6th on a Street Circuit, where overtaking is almost impossible takes some doing.

Commented Armaan : Qualifying was looking so good and I was really excited to see the P1 Board. I just cannot believe how I mistook the lap board which was actually another driver’s lap board and I pulled into the pits thinking that the team was calling me in. I was really heartbroken as I knew the last 2 laps in the session was going to be the quickest of the session and I had primed myself for that. The fault is mine and the buck stops with me. I guess it was a hard lesson to learn.

The start was a disaster as the engine died out as I was rolling on to the start grid. The mechanics worked really fast, but could not get it done before the race started. However, the speed with which they worked with was fantastic and thanks to them I was able to get out before the pack completed the first lap. I pushed as hard as I can and then Lady Luck smiled on me as there was an accident and the safety car came out. This helped me to pull up behind the pack. On the restart, I was all fired up to make as many places as I could. The end result was more than what I expected and it was fantastic. I honestly did not think for a second that I would land up 6th. It was great racing and I really enjoyed every moment of it. I now put all this behind and focus on my 2nd qualifying session later this evening.

Once again, thanks to my sponsors, JK Racing, Amaron, Yuvraj Singh, Cornerstone and Trimex.

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