It's the half way mark in the GP2 series and it's time the front-runners made their mark. ewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg clinched 1 contracts primarily because of outstanding performances in the second half of the season.

Giorgio Pantano leads by 11 points from Karun's team-mate Bruno Senna and in third place is Sebastien Buemi. David Coulthard has already confirmed that would be his last season in Fl and there are at least a couple of drivers who are struggling to keep their positions The door therefore is open for the GP2 drivers to realise their Fl dream.

Twenty points behind Senna in eighth place in Karun Chandhok. After a below par performance in the inaugural GP2 2 Asia championship Karun ended the first round in Spain without any points. A ninth place in the feature race and a broken steer¬ing after a collision on Sunday was not how he had hoped to start his campaign in this all important second year in GP2. In Turkey he finished fourth after starting seventh and then in the sprint race he could only finish twelfth.

In the principality of Monaco the Indian showed why he is tipped as one of the next Fl drivers after finishing third. In France he again finished among the points but only in seventh place and in the sprint race the same weekend he crashed out after colliding with championship leader Giorgio Pantano.

In England, Karun's adopted home, he raced to another podium finish in the feature race while retiring in the sprint race after damaging his front wing and brake duct. Though the Indian driver has taken two podiums this year, a win still eludes him. Going by the high standards that he sets for himself, he would have ideally liked to be in the top five and closer to the championship leader at the half way mark and even more so, closer to his team-mate.

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A racing driver's performance is after all seen in light of his team-mate's performance. To be fair to Karun, this is Senna's third year in GP2 and it was in the second half of the season last year that Chandhok had his finest hour, the win at Spa. Can he do it again'.

After struggling in the practice session where Karun could only manage 16th place, he put in a better drive and qualified in tenth place. Such is the competition in GP2 and so close are the drivers in terms of pace that despite being under .6 of a see behind the pole sitter, Karun could manage tenth place. Despite a delay in the pits, when a rival car drove very close to his mechanics, Karun drove a solid and consistent race to finish seventh. "I had a pretty strong race. I wasn't really able to hook the lap up in qualifying but in the race the car worked very well and I got into a good rhythm. I lost a place to d'Ambrosio in the pit stops because Pastor Maldonado's car was uncomfortably close to my mechanics but otherwise I think it's been a good afternoon," said Karun.

Seventh place meant a front row start to Sunday's sprint race, but on a damp track, Karun's engine bogged down at the start, dropping him into the pack. Following a pit stop to change to slick tyres, he was battling back towards the points when he clashed with Saturday's winner Giorgio Pantano. Karun was again running at the pace of the front runners and in qualifying despite being under a second of the leader he could only manage tenth place.

Chandhok gained one position at the start, when Mike Conway made a poor start, forcing Karun to swerve around his stranded car, and then began to carve his way through the field. He passed Toyota F1 protege Kamui Kobayashi at the Abbey chicane, Andy Soucek around the outside of the dauntingly fast Stowe corner, Luca Filippi at Brooklands, Andi Zuber at Club, GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean at Brooklands and team-mate Bruno Senna during the pit stops. That has to be my best race ever in GP2.

Apart from Giorgio Pantano, who won the race, we were faster than everyone else," said Karun. "It was such a shame that I got blocked on new tyres in qualifying or I wouldn't have been stuck in the traffic in the first place. We knew before the start that the race would be all about managing the tyres, just like they do in Formula 1, because this is one of the toughest tracks of the year. I was quicker than Lucas di Grassi, who finished second but I just didn't have the time to catch him. But to finish third from tenth on the grid after passing a lot of guys feels awesome.