Streets of Monaco await Karun
May 17, 2005

India’s fastest rising star Karun Chandhok, heads to the legendary streets of Monaco this weekend, for the third round of the 2005 ‘World Series by Renault’ Championship. The race is to be held on Sunday morning just preceding the Formula 1 race, providing an opportunity of a lifetime for a young driver aspiring to be in Formula 1.

Karun, driving for the Italian squad RC Motorsport, said, “I am so excited about going to Monaco this weekend and racing around there. I’ve been watching videos of the Monaco Grand Prix ever since I was 4 or 5 years old, and I’ve always dreamt of driving around there. It’s going to be a special feeling driving past the harbour and the famous casino and for sure this is a highlight of my career.”

The 21-year-old from Madras who is backed by JK Tyre, the Tata Group, Ucal Mikuni, and Parx was realistic about his chances though, “I haven’t driven a big car on a street circuit before. The only street race I’ve done was in Formula Asia at Macau and that was a long time ago so I’m being realistic about it. If we can get in the top 10, I’ll be very happy. We only have half an hour of practice before qualifying so that is going to make life very hard indeed!”

In the opening two races at Zolder, Karun had to fight back from behind after an accident in qualifying left him at the back of the grid. Team manager, Francesco Rivera, who won the Monaco Formula 1 support race with Giancarlo Fisichella in 1994, said, “I don’t think Zolder was a fair reflection of our potential. We obviously want to do as well as we can at Monaco, but I’ve told Karun that he must remember how Monaco is normally a bit of a lottery and we should really look to Valencia to get our Championship campaign going.”

The weekend will also see India’s top two drivers — Jordan star Narain Karthikeyan and Karun — in action on the same day for the first time since they were team-mates in the ‘World Series’ at the end of last year.