When the Indian national anthem was played at the Spa-Francochamps circuit in Belgium on Sunday, it officially was the last race the GP 2 series did with Formula One. So when Karun Chandhok walked onto the podium, emotions took upper hand and reality took a while to digest.

“I looked down, saw my dad, the whole Durango team and even the cooks all in tears,” explained Karun, to realise that his tear-filled eyes was not an individual feeling.

For Karun the victory was the one of the biggest by an Indian in motorsport, for Durango it was a top-place after two years — last being Germany 2005 — and for India, a hope for the future.

A day after his triumph, the 23-year-old, still high on feelings, had a free-wheeling talk with The Indian Express from England. Excerpts:

Having had to deal with disappointment in Hungary and Turkey before settling for double-points in Monza, what was the feeling before this one here?

• Qualifying was not a great run, but our speed in Saturday’s race was strong. Engineer Nick and I have formed a great equation and we were on the track till 10 pm, working on the set-up. I was confident that if I got ahead I would be able to stay there. The trouble was trying to get off the line and through the first hairpin.

Was a top podium finish on your mind at the start of the season?

• From the start I’ve been saying that we were aiming for points and one or two podiums in the second half of the season. We’ve achieved that target by scoring points every weekend since Budapest in the middle of the year.

... contd.