KARUN CHANDHOK'S JRM RACING FINISHES DAY ONE
AS QUICKEST PRIVATEER TEAM IN THE 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO

September 14, 2012, Interlagos, Brazil: Indian racing star Karun Chandhok and his JRM Racing Team finished the first day of practice for the Six Hours of Sao Paulo as the fastest petrol car and the highest classified privateer team. The #22 HPD-ARX 03a driven by Karun Chandhok, David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck recorded a time of 1:24.265, putting it fourth overall and just 0.3secs from the #1 Audi of Fassler, Lotterer and Treluyer. Over the two 90 minute sessions the crew completed 77 laps running through a programme of tyre evaluation, set up and circuit familiarization.

Chandhok, who has never driven at the famed Interlagos circuit, had to contend with rain in both sessions as Peter, who last raced at Interlagos two years ago in GT1, set the quickest time of the day in the second 90-minute practice session.

Peter opened the running for the #22 in FP1, completing 12 laps with a best time of 1:26.440. This was to be the team's quickest time of the morning as the rain arrived shortly after. David took over for another 14 laps - his first outing at Interlagos since competing in 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix with Simtek. Karun completed the session with a 13 lap run, taking the team's total lap count over the practice to 40.

Karun then opened FP2 with 12 laps before David took over for a further 15 laps. Peter then brought running to a close, setting the team's fastest time of the day in the dying minutes of the session.

Karun Chandhok commented, "I'm very excited about racing here in Brazil for the first time! I came here last year as the reserve driver for Team Lotus and did lots of laps on my bike but never got a chance to drive around Interlagos. I love coming to the older circuits with a lot of character and this certainly is one of them.Today was about learning the circuit as I have never driven here before. It started drizzling at the start of the second session when I was out, but it was useful to get some data in all types of conditions. We concentrated more on race preparation and we got plenty of information and ideas to study overnight. The traffic doesn't seem as bad as I thought. With fewer cars it isn't so bad, except in the very narrow mid sector. We didn't set out to get a quick time and we know that the other teams are going to come back strong tomorrow, but for now I'd say it's been a good day".

Nigel Stepney, Team Manager and Chief Engineer, said, "Today we concentrated more on preparation for the race; getting information on the tyre behaviour over longer distances and fine-tuning the set up. It was also about getting the drivers up to speed; Karun has never been here before and David hasn't driven the track in several years. It was a productive day overall - we got a lot of very valuable information. While it's great to see our name up there as the best of the petrol and privateer cars we know that the competition won't sleep so we will keep focused for tomorrow".