Armaan Ebrahim, in his first stint with the Indy Cars, had a decent start, finishing eighth in the 45-lap Race I of the Indy Racing Series at St. Petersburg, Florida, on Saturday.
Beginning cautiously, Armaan picked up pace as the race progressed and moved up from 14th to eighth at the chequered flag. There were three yellows during the race and Armaan made three good restarts when the flag went green, which helped him climb up the ladder and gain valuable points.
Being the first Indian to race in the Indy Series, Armaan had a huge fan support. The grid had some very experienced drivers from Europe, America and Mexico.
“It was always going to be a difficult opening round as I need to get used to the Indy Lites car which is very different from the GP2 and F2 cars that I have driven,” said Armaan, who drove a JK Tyre-sponsored car.
“With a stick shift 6 speed sequential gearbox and a heavy engine at the back, the characteristics of the car is very different and it does require a lot of testing to adapt to it.
“However, I am quite pleased with the result given the fact that we had just two days of testing at a different circuit last week and also given the brake problems that we had throughout practice, qualifying and the race. We can only gain from this and move forward.”
Keywords: Armaan Ebrahim, Indy Racing Series