Karthikeyan fails at Sydney A1 GP

Narain Karthikeyan finished 11th in both the feature and sprint race as India returned empty-handed from the A1 Grand Prix race at the Eastern Creek in Sydney on Sunday.

Karthikeyan had a tough 19th place starting position on the grid for the 42-lap feature race. After initially going out on slicks, Karthikeyan found the going difficult after the wet start to the race and went into the pit lane to change tyres almost immediately.

As a result, Karthikeyan began his race from the pit lane but the driver still managed to skilfully steer his way from the very back of the grid in the hour-long race.

In the sprint race, Karthikeyan started 13th on the grid and managed to slightly pick up positions before finishing 11th, just short of picking up a point.

"It was a rather challenging race with the unpredictable weather conditions, but it certainly made for an exciting driver's race," Karthikeyan said.

"Unfortunately we were not able to pick up points this weekend. It is vital we get a good set-up for the car to improve our qualifying position and be able to move up the grid as we already know what we are then capable of achieving," he said.

The Indian also oozed confidence of scoring points in the next race in South Africa on February 24.