Cracked exhaust scuttles Armaan Ebrahim's hopes

Nurburgring (Germany): After a top-10 performance in the Free Practice session, India's Armaan Ebrahim finished 15th and 13th in rounds seven and eight, respectively, in the Formula 2 Championship races here over the weekend.

The 22-year old Armaan, sponsored by JK Tyre, Amaron and Trimex, began on a promising note when he posted the third quickest time in Friday's Free Practice session, but thereafter, could not sustain the performance level as the exhaust system developed an internal crack.

After qualifying 14th for Saturday's race, Armaan lost a spot to finish 15th. For Sunday's, race, he started 18th on the grid, but gained a few track positions to end up 13th.

"I am obviously very disappointed at the way the weekend rolled out. On Friday, my prospects looked good when I was the third quickest in the opening free practice session, but thereafter, nothing went right for me."

"For Saturday's qualifying, I ran on old tyres and then dropped a place in the race to finish 15th. The exhaust cracked internally and it affected the turbo. We discovered the crack that was widening all the time only on Sunday."

"I managed to make some places in the second race to move from 18th to 13th, but overall, I was not happy that I came away without scoring any points," said Armaan who has six points from seventh place finish at Silverstone in April.

The championship takes a three-week break before resuming at Brands Hatch, England, for the next two rounds scheduled for July 22-24.