Karun Chandhok was unable to repeat his podium-scoring form in the second round of the GP2 Asia series at Sentul after a trying weekend for the iSport International man.
After a wet free practice, qualifying was a lottery due to rain meaning Chandhol Karun started the feature race from sixth on the grid.
He quickly made up one position on the opening lap when he passed Christian Bakkerud for fifth but then lost out when the Safety Car appeared on track as he dived into the pits only to find his team weren't ready for him.
“The first they knew I was coming in was when I appeared in the pitlane,” he said. “It wasn't their fault that information wasn't on the screen when it should have been but it was really unfortunate for us as it made a mess of the strategy.”
The slow pitstop dropped Karun to 17th, but he quickly started working his way back to the front. However, when two cars slowed in front of him, Chandhok was forced to take avoiding action and saw his race end in the grave.
“They braked ridiculously early, and it caught me out,” he said. “I had a choice of picking one of three cars to hit, or spinning to avoid them. As soon as you get off-line and lock-up here, you spin anyway. I got stuck in the gravel, and that was it.”
Forced to start 18th for the sprint race as a result of his retirement, Chandhok climbed into the top ten despite a limited number of laps at racing speed, but he could only finish 13th after contact from Michael Herck left him with a trip across the gravel.
“It was a terribly frustrating weekend,” Chandhok reflected. “I had front-running pace again, just like in Dubai where I finished on the podium, but it was running in the slower traffic that really cost me points here in both races. If they hadn't messed me about, I'm sure I would have scored good points again.
“After all the problems we've had here with the track surface breaking up here I can't wait to get to Malaysia, where the circuit is more normal. I really enjoy the circuit and if we can maintain the pace we currently have, I'm sure I can have a great weekend there.”
