Karthikeyan and Carroll chose to make their tyre stops as soon as the first pit window opened on lap eight, with the latter very nearly getting the jump on the erstwhile race leader. That promoted Kerr to the head of the field ahead of Jani, whilst Carroll attempted to go all the way around the outside of the Indian machine on his ‘out' lap. Kerr and Jani were in next time around, and the crowd went wild as the Briton rejoined just ahead of Karthikeyan to assume the race lead.
Carroll was still harassing the Indian for all he was worth for second place, whilst Zaugg regained the position he had lost to Bleekemolen earlier on – despite leaving the pit-lane with the jack still attached to the back of his car – but a drive-through penalty would subsequently render that benefit somewhat academic.
There was worse still, though, for Canada's James Hinchcliffe, who suffered both a stop-go penalty and then a drive-through for speeding during his stop-go. Carroll's determination to separate Karthikeyan from second place was destined to end in tears, however, as after a number of wheel-to-wheel tussles his front wing became detached as a result of a slight brush with the Indian machine, causing the Ulsterman to fall back into the clutches of fourth-placed Ammermuller and the duelling Montagny and Jani, the latter having lost out during the opening round of stops.
On lap 18 the wing on the emerald green car then dramatically flew off, sending Carroll gravel-bound not once but twice on his way back to the pits for repairs, with the man from Portadown doing very well indeed by keeping his foot in to extricate himself from the Clark Curve kitty litter as he slewed back across to the pit-lane with a punctured tyre and missing front wing.
![Narain Karthikeyan - A1 Team India [pic credit: A1 GP Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/398970.jpg)
