ZANDVOORT: Twenty two men battling it out and a packed crowd braving the rains and cheering them in every possible way.

No, this was not a cricket match but the opening round of the A1 Grand prix at Circuit Park here. But that was just about the difference as the Dutch crowd cheered for the drivers in a manner which was similar to the raucous Indian fans cheering the cricket team. And among the persons the crowd here was cheering for was Narain Karthikeyan, as usual trying to hold the Indian flag high. Narain had a decent qualifying session, getting into the top four at times and later getting pushed back. But it was hardly his fault. He tried his darndest best and it was due to his efforts that India finished 11th in the qualifying for the sprint race and 9th in the qualifying for the feature race, both won by South Africa. Nonetheless he was disappointed.

“It wasn’t the car and the set-up we’re used to as our regular engineer isn’t here. And the rains made it all the more difficult,” said Narain. The fact that the practice and qualifying sessions were both scheduled for Saturday — here in Zandvoort, a sea resort, off the coast of North Sea, the kind of noise the A1 car makes isn’t permissible on weekdays — also dented the Indian driver’s prospects.

“They had packed the practice sessions and the qualifying back-to-back and that didn’t give me much time to recuperate,” said Narain. “Also they have extended the circuit, while the old one remains skidding; the new one is slippery,” said the Indian about the circuit which once played hosts to an F1 race and where Narain had himself raced in the Formula 3 race in 2000. Despite a comme ci comme ca qualifying session the only

Indian to have driven a Formula One car remains optimistic about the race and the team’s chances.