Karthikeyan shines in qualifiers
The Asian Age — March 6, 2005

It was a dream come true for Narain Karthikeyan who finished the 2005 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne in a creditable 15th place. He achieved the highest position among the four rookies, clearly establishing that he is the quickest amongst the first timers. Narain’s final qualifying session on Sunday morning placed him 12th on the starting grid, two positions ahead of his teammate Tiago Monteiro. However, Narain made a poor start, which dropped him from 12th to 18th place by the end of the first lap, behind his teammate.

For the first stint of the race, Narain followed Monteiro closely. He eventually overtook him, not on the track but in the pits, after the first round of pit stops on lap 19. The second stint for Narain was much better and he pulled out a sizeable gap from Monteiro. At one point, Narain was closing in on Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota but never really made it within striking distance.

Narain settled into a comfortable rhythm and, on lap 36, posted his fastest lap of the day, 1 min 27.970 seconds, a mere 2.2 seconds short of the fastest lap set by Giancarlo Fisichella who dominated the race by taking pole position and winning comfortably as well. Narain made his second pit stop on lap 39 and was fuelled to last till the chequered flag but, in this stint, he slowed down due to tyre wear. “The rear tyres were graining and were losing their grip,’’ said Narain.

Tyre wear was a problem for most drivers as the new rules allow only one set of tyres to be used for the entire race. However, Narain held it together and finished 57 laps much to the delight of the Jordan team whose objective was to finish the race. Narain finished nearly a minute ahead of teammate Monteiro who he clearly overshadowed all weekend. Monteiro, however, was suffering from flu and wasn’t a 100 % fit for this race. “I hope to recover fully before Malaysia and I am sure I can close the gap to Narain,’’ said Monteiro.

Narain’s performance, for a rookie in a below average car, has drawn widespread praise, particularly from the media. Narain is one his way to becoming a household name in F1 crazy countries. Back home in India, sports lovers have something else to talk about; like intermediates, wing angles and fuel loads instead of googlies, cover drives and run rates.