'I grew up watching the Le Mans movie in which Steve McQueen acted with Porsches and Ferraris battling. As a kid, I was inspired by the movie. Although the opportunity came late in my career that was something I always wanted to do. I took it up when Kolles Audi team offered the entire series of five races (Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany and Britain),' he said.

Speaking of his experience in the Le Mans Series, Karthikeyan said: 'These are basically endurance races. You cannot attack every lap. There are a lot of other categories like GT-1 and GT-2 cars that are much slower. The traffic management has to be quick, but not over aggressive or they will take you out.'

On the impact of Le Mans Series on his racing career, he said: 'I am an open wheel racer. That is my passion. However, the Audi is like a Formula One car. It has all the banned elements like traction control and other electronic bits. So, it's a lot easier machine to drive.'

Looking ahead, Karthikeyan said he has a 'lot of plans' but they did not include driving in any of the North American series, something he had contemplated a few years ago.

'There is a recession on in the US and so, the budgets are low. I have no plans of driving in the US as I have the Le Mans Series and A1 GP to do, besides hoping to get back to Formula One,' he said.