Car trouble made it a futile race
Indian Express  — June 22, 2004

Had gone into the fourth race of the Nissan World Series, 2004, in Valencia, Spain, hoping to continue from where I left after winning the last race in Magny Cours and make a couple of more podium finishes in the race on Sunday. The qualifying rounds for the two rounds of races did not yield expected results for me. I managed to secure 3rd and 4th positions on the starting grid for Race 1 and Race 2 respectively.

Nevertheless, I was always confident of my abilities and giving my best performance for the RC Motorsport team. Unfortunately, there was harsh luck in store for me for this race. Race day was bright and sunny with the temperature hovering uncomfortably around 36-40 degrees C. I started well for Race 1, capitalised on my good start and moved up from my 3rd position on the starting grid to 2nd position, right behind the championship leader Heikki Kovalainen. 

But soon after I realised that there was a mechanical snag and the throttle of my car was not functioning properly, I started feeling the discomfort in handling the car. I could feel Jean Christophe Ravier on my tail, closing in on me at every bend. I am never the one to give up, and kept pushing for I knew there was a definite podium finish for me in this race. Ravier was driving really well and soon overtook me and then Kovalainen, to ultimately win the race unchallenged.

I was now vying to finish 3rd in Race 1, not a bad finish considering the fact that my car was getting extremely difficult to handle. However, as luck would have it, I was overtaken for the 3rd position by Felix Porteiro in the last lap and finally got hit on the main straight by the Argentine driver Alvarez. Alvarez was aggressive in his driving yesterday, and caused trouble for few other drivers as well. 

Kovalainen finished the race in 2nd position with Porteiro finishing 3rd. As I ended Race 1 without adding any points to my overall tally, I was raring to go in Race 2. However, even this race proved futile for me. The snag in my car resurfaced and I started losing out to the other cars. The separating time between the two races is only 45 minutes, not enough to mend the mechanical hitch my car was experiencing. 

As I was losing control of the car, I finally decided to retire. Kovalainen took the checkered flag first, followed by Ravier and Gom-mendy in 2nd and 3rdpositions respectively. I am confident to make up for this loss in my next race in the Lausitz Ring, Germany. I am a race winner and experience has taught me that victory and loss are as inseparable as life and death. There are five more races to be competed in this Nissan World Series and anything can happen from here on.