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Chandhok sweeps Silverstone
May 27, 2003 20:33 IST
India's Formula 3 ace Karun Chandhok completed a clean sweep of his weekend Scholarship class races at the Silverstone Grand Prix on Monday, when he claimed victory in Round 10 of the championship.
The victory followed his two Pole positions and a first place in Round 9 of the championship on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Chennai-based lad was really fired up for Monday's event after a totally dominant performance right through the weeked. At the start he fought off an aggressive Ernesto Viso but by the time the cars came past the pits for the first time, he had pulled out 3 or 4 car lengths over the Venezuelan driver.
However, he then struggled a little with a vibration from the front end of the car.
"I'm not quite sure what caused the problem, but it felt like an unbalanced wheel or something which caused me some concern because it meant that there was a serious vibration," he said after the race.
But as the race progressed, Chandhok lost time as he battled with the Championship class cars, which allowed team-mate Steven Kane to reduce the lead in the closing stages.
"Steven didn't really get close enough to challenge for the lead. I knew that as long as I kept doing consistent laps I'd be okay. I drove a little bit cautiously because of the vibration but it was enough," he explained.
Indeed it was, as he recorded his fourth race win of the season, completing his perfect set of two pole positions and two race victories for the weekend.
"Silverstone for me is like my adopted home race. I absolutely love this circuit and the whole team and I came here with great expectations. To leave with two poles and two wins is absolutely fantastic. I really needed this after Knockhill," declared an elated Chandhok after the presentations were over.
Chandhok, who is supported primarily by JK Tyres in association with Kingfisher, Rolon, UCAL, Amaron and Parx has his next race on the June 22, giving him a well-deserved break back in India and a chance to get some "good home food".