Fastest Indian Narain Karthikeyan looks forward to the upcoming A1 Grand Prix season.
You would think that the tag of “fastest Indian in the world” would weigh heavy on Narain Karthikeyan’s shoulders. But the 31-year-old from Coimbatore shrugs it off and says that the kind of pressure he puts on himself can never equal any pressure from outside. For a man who helped put India on the motor racing map, Narain Karthikeyan has seen it all.
Being the lead driver of Team India, in A1 GP, Karthikeyan is ready for the upcoming A1 GP season, which begins on October 5. “I am looking forward to have a more successful season with the team this time around.” Karthikeyan will have two rookie drivers, Arman Ebrahim and Parthiv Sureshwaram, alongside him for the upcoming season.
Much to his delight, Karthikeyan has settled in extremely well with the team, as two wins in the last season showed. Quiz him about the experience and he says that it has been amazing as well as disappointing. “It was amazing to win two races but disappointing not to win more than that.” At Team India, he is the man and he says that he has enjoyed every moment of building the team to its current state of competitiveness.
Looking back on his Formula 1 stint, Karthikeyan says that his debut in Melbourne was quite overwhelming. “There are so many amazing memories from that weekend — especially outqualifying Michael Schumacher that day, as he’s one of my idols.”
But his stint in F1 was kind of bittersweet. He didn’t have too many high points to write home about, and some would say that it was an opportunity missed. To a certain extent, it was rather an opportunity grabbed than missed. The interest in motorsports shot up and people began to take note of other racing car drivers as well. Karthikeyan has no regrets. “How can I have any regrets? After all, it was one of my biggest ambitions,” he says.
After a year in F1, Karthikeyan spent some time waiting on the sidelines before finally landing a job as a test driver with former world champion team Williams, and now he is plying his trade for Team India in A1 GP, the world cup of motorsports.
As somebody who grew up surrounded by motorsports, it didn’t come as a surprise that he ended up as professional driver. His father was a national rallying champion but Karthikeyan can’t recall any defining moment when he thought that “Yes, this is it.” But he says that he always knew that he would be doing professional racing.
At 16 he attended the Elf-Winfield Racing School in France, showing an immediate talent for the sport. Winning the British Formula 3 was the pivotal moment in his career, and it was then that he was given the tag of “fastest Indian”. He looks up to his father as a role model and says that his father taught him that “If you do something, do it the best way it can be done. Give it 200 per cent!” As a driver, he is a huge fan of the late Ayrton Senna.
Karthikeyan’s early days saw him going through a lot of tough times. Sponsors were hard to come by and corporate interest in the sport was at a bare minimum. Not many people took a professional driver seriously. But to his credit, Karthikeyan stuck to his guns and kept on performing consistently in various racing formats.
Being a professional driver, Karthikeyan rarely gets time off. A self-confessed movie buff, he enjoys watching as many as he can in his free time. Though his other main passion is maintaining his fitness. “I spend many hours in the gym working out every day.” Apart from motorsports, he loves to play tennis. “But I rarely get the time to do that,” he says, sounding a bit disappointed.
Karthikeyan is extremely optimistic about the future of motorsport in India. “The growth potential is absolutely huge. We are at the bottom of the ladder now, so the only way is up.” Asked if he sees himself back in Formula 1 any time soon, he says: “Of course I would like the chance, but at the moment I am focussing on improving my performance and bringing a better result home for Team India in the forthcoming season of A1 GP.”
