Injured Karthikeyan misses Le Mans

LE MANS - Indias Narain Karthikeyan dislocated his left shoulder minutes before the start of the Le Mans 24-hour car race here Saturday night and was forced to pull out of the event.

Disaster struck Karthikeyan as he climbed the pitwall on way to the washroom about 10 minutes before the start of the race, but slipped off the wall and dislocated his left shoulder.

After medication and his hand being put in sling, he was advised 10 days rest. His absence reduced the Audi team to just two drivers - Andre Lotterer and Charles Zwolsman who eventually finished overall seventh in the Kolles Audi R10 TDi car.

I was so pumped up to do this race. The Le Mans circuit is such an incredible track. Our No.14 Kolles Audi R10 TDi is a fantastically designed and prepared car. I have been training so hard, and all the team has been working flat out for so many weeks just for this weekend. To get injured minutes before the start of the race, on the grid, is the most frustrating experience of my racing career,” Karthikeyan said.

However, I have to now focus on my physiotherapy and recovery so that I can be 100% fit for the next race of the Le Mans Series which will be at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal, a track I know quite well, as I raced there recently in A1GP.