Armaan and Karun have age on their sides, but I feel 2007 will be a make-or-break year for them.
By invitation
Narain Karthikeyan
Twenty-oh-six turned out to be a busier year than I could ever have anticipated. At the beginning of the year I had set my mind to a year of testing with Williams F1, learning as much as I could, and improving myself to become a better driver.
That in itself would be a full time job, but it turned out to be only one of the full-time jobs I undertook during the year.
I’ve been thinking about it for a while now that it was time I give something back to the sport which has given me so much.
A fantastic opportunity arose early in last year. The Indian National Racing Championship was planning a new look, with three brand new classes of single seater racing.
Along with two of my sponsors and long time supporters BPCL (with their brand ‘Speed’) Amaron and Tata Racing, I conceptualised the NK Racing team.
We wanted to provide a platform to help young drivers in their budding motorsport careers.
We selected four ‘young-guns’ through a shoot-out process, and each of them received a sponsored drive in the premier class of the National Racing Championship. It was a steep learning curve for both the drivers as well as the new team which was put together from scratch.
We also had some wonderful lubricant support from Castrol and some great tyres from JK Tyres. 3 wins, 16 podium finishes and second in the team championship, was, I think something none of us expected when we set out on this project.
Twenty-oh-seven should be an even more exciting. I’m excited about continuing my role as the test-driver for Williams F1, with the added possible benefit of driving on some of the Fridays of race weekends.
I’m also looking forward to continuing my long standing relationships with my corporate sponsors like Tata’s and BPCL who have unswervingly supported me for many years through thick and thin.
I hope that many more corporates will join them in accepting motorsport as a wonderful marketing and technology tool.
My national championship team will also be back in the hunt for new talent, and I’m sure that this year we will develop into genuine championship contenders.
Last year, two other drivers made their mark in international motorsport, and one who made national racing his own. Gaurav Gill drove superbly, showing his determination to succeed and his skill as a racer.
Winning the National Racing Championship and runner-up in the National Rally Championship showed that he is definitely a talent to watch out for. I think he has a great future.
Karun Chandhok had a good season in 2006 winning the Asian Formula Renault V6 Championship, but he will have to put in some good performances in European racing for his career to move forward.
Armaan Ebrahim also will need to improve on his performances in Formula Renault UK last year.
His experience in A1GP will also have benefited him a great deal. Both Armaan and Karun are young and so have age on their sides, but I do feel that 2007 will be a make-or-break year for them.
I wish them both all the very best and hope to see them doing India proud at racetracks across the globe.
One of the most crucial problems with motorsport in India is that the MAI and FMSCI are still locked in a battle to gain control. I do hope 2007 will bring along an era of more peace and harmony between these two organisations.
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