We are more used to seeing him pump his fists in air in triumph. So, it was quite depressing to see Narain Karthikeyan with a strapped injured left shoulder and fighting hard to overcome the pain of not being able to start the Le Mans 24-hour race in France last week.

“It has hurt me very much. And, it’s going to haunt me for a long time from now. I would have digested if it was a crash on road but this one was terrible,” Narain told The Hindu on Friday.

He calls it outright bad luck. “In my career, I have gone through ups and down but not as bad as this one. I hope such freak accidents don’t happen at all, not even to anybody. Hopefully, I have gone through my share.”

The fastest Indian in the world says he went through the procedure of climbing the pit wall. “It was about 3.5 feet but I was pretty unlucky to slip and fall as there was lots of wet debris. Also, the rain had left the whole place slippery. It would have been severe had I not kept myself fit.”

The mental trauma of not having started the race is rankling so much that Narain wants to compensate by finishing on the podium in the next race of the Le Mans Series at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal next month. “I need to start on my physiotherapy and I believe my fitness will help me recover pretty quickly so that I will be fresh to race at the Algarve circuit, which I know so well as I raced there recently in A1GP.”

The 31-year-old Coimbatore-based driver says it was a new dawn for him in a sports car.

“In sports car term, I am very young but it has been definitely very good. I only hope I have good times in it.”

Narain was happy that his teammates (Andre Lotterer & Charles Zwolsman), despite his freak accident, managed to finish a creditable seventh.

He says it was loads of fun with a party atmosphere and big discos. “Le Mans is a big event. It is one of those iconic races. If people throng it is because they are able to relate to the cars pretty easily. It was nice when about a lakh people surround you to get your autograph.”

Narain says the crowd is three times bigger than the Formula One. “You will have to be there to believe it. The crowd had an easy accessibility to the drivers and also enjoyed talking to them.”

Narain still has an eye on F1. “There are quite a few new teams coming in. And, my management is looking for an opening. I need one more shot in F1 because I feel I am still young. I hope it will happen next year.”

About the recommendations made for the Arjuna award, he says: “I am not dejected that I have not got it so far but I really don’t understand why the Government has not recognised my efforts even after driving in almost all the major motor sport events across the world. Every other country has recognised its driver but not our Government. I am ready to wait,” he says.

[source: hindu.com photo: K. Ananthan]