It did not prove to be third time lucky for Indian driver Karun Chandhok at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where he and his LMP2 team Murphy Prototypes were forced to retire from the world's biggest endurance race with a steering problem.
It was a tough race with 19 cars retiring after early torrential rain created chaos in the field of 55 starters.
Chandhok, who was aiming for a podium in his third straight Le Mans appearance, endured a tough time at the Circuit de la Sarthe. He crashed into the Indianapolis corner during qualifying before aquaplaning off on the Mulsanne Straight in the race which concluded on Sunday.
The Indian raced alongside rookie teammates Rodolfo Gonzalez and Nathanael Berthon.
"It's been a frustrating race, Le Mans is the best race in the world and the biggest race in the world, but it can also be the most frustrating," said Chandhok.
"As soon as we had the car fixed and we converted from a canoe back to a race car, we were really fast. I had fastest lap comfortably at that point of the race. What might have been, but that's Le Mans. I would love to come back here next year," added the former Formula 1 driver.
Berthon started well for the Irish team from sixth position in the LMP2 class. Despite losing two places early on, Berthon made a good start settling into a steady rhythm for the duration of his stint.
He handed the car over to Chandhok in a smooth pit stop to retain their position. However, bad luck struck the team as the downpour left enough water on the track to send his car aquaplaning at Tertre Rouge.
The Greaves Motorsport car behind Chandhok was caught in the same water and ended up making contact with each other, leading to suspension damage.
The Murphy crew set about the mammoth task of repairing the car and some 36 laps later, Chandhok returned to the track. He then proved the team's pace with a string of fastest laps.
Darkness started to set upon La Sarthe and Gonzalez took over the Hertz Car Sales sponsored car for his first stint of the race. A confident but measured approach from the Venezuelan driver saw him being the fastest on the circuit for most of his stint.
