iceburns288
02-02-2005, 06:31 AM
Brings awesome diversity to F1:thumbsup:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SPORT/02/01/india.driver/index.html
LONDON, England -- India's Narain Karthikeyan is set to become the first driver from the sub-continent to secure a drive in the Formula One - the pinnacle of motorsport.
The Madras-born Karthikeyan, 28, dubbed the "Fastest Indian in the World," has been offered a place in the Jordan team for the 2005 season.
"In principle, I've agreed to drive for the Jordan F1 team for the 2005 season," he told a news conference in Bombay on Tuesday.
"We'll be signing the agreement in the next couple of days."
A spokesman for Jordan in London would not confirm a final deal had been reached and said an announcement by the team was expected sometime in the next two days.
Jordan have yet to announce their drivers for the 2005 season, which starts next month. They finished ninth among 10 teams in 2004.
"It's a momentous day for me and it has indeed been a long journey," Karthikeyan said.
The Jordan team's sporting director Trevor Carlin told BBC Sport that they were in talks with Karthikeyan and that a agreement was "not finalised, but is very close".
The deal hinges on the Indian star securing the necessary personal sponsors to secure his drive, Carlin said.
"He's still got to find some funds, but it's very close. The sponsorship package seems strong," added Carlin.
Racing father
Karthikeyan comes from a racing background as the son of former national rally champion G.R. Karthikeyan.
He has previously missed out on a Formula One drive despite coming agonizingly close since he first tested for Jaguar in 2001.
He also test-drove for Jordan and actually got an offer from Minardi in 2003 but failed to generate the huge sum required to secure the offer.
But his dream came closer to reality last week after Carlin, his former team owner on the Formula Three circuit, took over as sporting director at Jordan, now owned by Russian-born millionaire Alex Schnaider's Midland group.
Karthikeyan had scored Carlin Motorsport's first Formula Three wins and has built his reputation over the years as a fast, but erratic, driver with a special flair on wet tracks.
His love affair with cars started as a toddler watching his father string victories together on India's competitive rally circuit.
Coming from a business family in the southern industrial city of Coimbatore, which has produced several rally drivers, further encouraged him to take up the sport.
He joined the Winfield Racing School in France, which has produced former world champions such as Alain Prost and Damon Hill, in his early teens. At 15, he was one of the finalists in the Pilote Elf Competition for Formula Renault cars.
He won the Formula Asia title in 1996 and had a successful run on the British Formula Three circuit, where his long association with Carlin began.
Karthikeyan has Grands Prix wins in the junior formula on tracks such as Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
The softly spoken driver, whose mild demeanor often belies his steely resolve, perfectly fits the commercial profile of Formula One with Bernie Ecclestone determined to exploit growing interest for the sport in the sub-continent.
Few sports can compete with cricket in India but live coverage of Formula One races has generated huge revenues for TV channels in urban centres, where world champion Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya are the new youth icons.
Ecclestone had initiated steps to stage a Grand Prix in the southern Hyderabad city as early as 2007, until a change in the regional government applied the brakes to the plan.
However, Karthikeyan's entry into the top echelons of the sport should quickly revive interest in India.
As far as Karthikeyan is concerned, for now he is just thrilled to be in Formula One, on the same tracks where his idol Ayrton Senna once ruled.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SPORT/02/01/india.driver/index.html
LONDON, England -- India's Narain Karthikeyan is set to become the first driver from the sub-continent to secure a drive in the Formula One - the pinnacle of motorsport.
The Madras-born Karthikeyan, 28, dubbed the "Fastest Indian in the World," has been offered a place in the Jordan team for the 2005 season.
"In principle, I've agreed to drive for the Jordan F1 team for the 2005 season," he told a news conference in Bombay on Tuesday.
"We'll be signing the agreement in the next couple of days."
A spokesman for Jordan in London would not confirm a final deal had been reached and said an announcement by the team was expected sometime in the next two days.
Jordan have yet to announce their drivers for the 2005 season, which starts next month. They finished ninth among 10 teams in 2004.
"It's a momentous day for me and it has indeed been a long journey," Karthikeyan said.
The Jordan team's sporting director Trevor Carlin told BBC Sport that they were in talks with Karthikeyan and that a agreement was "not finalised, but is very close".
The deal hinges on the Indian star securing the necessary personal sponsors to secure his drive, Carlin said.
"He's still got to find some funds, but it's very close. The sponsorship package seems strong," added Carlin.
Racing father
Karthikeyan comes from a racing background as the son of former national rally champion G.R. Karthikeyan.
He has previously missed out on a Formula One drive despite coming agonizingly close since he first tested for Jaguar in 2001.
He also test-drove for Jordan and actually got an offer from Minardi in 2003 but failed to generate the huge sum required to secure the offer.
But his dream came closer to reality last week after Carlin, his former team owner on the Formula Three circuit, took over as sporting director at Jordan, now owned by Russian-born millionaire Alex Schnaider's Midland group.
Karthikeyan had scored Carlin Motorsport's first Formula Three wins and has built his reputation over the years as a fast, but erratic, driver with a special flair on wet tracks.
His love affair with cars started as a toddler watching his father string victories together on India's competitive rally circuit.
Coming from a business family in the southern industrial city of Coimbatore, which has produced several rally drivers, further encouraged him to take up the sport.
He joined the Winfield Racing School in France, which has produced former world champions such as Alain Prost and Damon Hill, in his early teens. At 15, he was one of the finalists in the Pilote Elf Competition for Formula Renault cars.
He won the Formula Asia title in 1996 and had a successful run on the British Formula Three circuit, where his long association with Carlin began.
Karthikeyan has Grands Prix wins in the junior formula on tracks such as Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
The softly spoken driver, whose mild demeanor often belies his steely resolve, perfectly fits the commercial profile of Formula One with Bernie Ecclestone determined to exploit growing interest for the sport in the sub-continent.
Few sports can compete with cricket in India but live coverage of Formula One races has generated huge revenues for TV channels in urban centres, where world champion Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya are the new youth icons.
Ecclestone had initiated steps to stage a Grand Prix in the southern Hyderabad city as early as 2007, until a change in the regional government applied the brakes to the plan.
However, Karthikeyan's entry into the top echelons of the sport should quickly revive interest in India.
As far as Karthikeyan is concerned, for now he is just thrilled to be in Formula One, on the same tracks where his idol Ayrton Senna once ruled.