Karthikeyan enters last round of World Series
Asian Age — December 2, 2003

New Delhi: Narain Karthikeyan entered the last round of the Nissan World Series in his Tata Carlin Team Dallara with one objective — to hold on to the coveted second place in the drivers’ Championship.

Karthikeyan has led the Tata Carlin Team all season — taking the fight to the established F1 test and race drivers who are a regular feature in this most competitive of International Formula series.

F1 Renault test pilot, Franck Montagny, wrapped up the Championship long ago but Karthikeyan has been the main opposition for race wins and the runner-up spot to the talented Frenchman. Karthikeyan’s teammate, Bruce Jouanny, also shared the limelight and was leading the second race on Monday but finished a lowly 10th after mass confusion surrounding an incident that caused the pace car to be deployed.

Two weeks ago, it seemed unlikely that Karthikeyan would even be fit enough to defend his position here in Spain. He was seconded by the Carlin Formula 3 Team to spearhead their challenge for their second win at the Macau Grand Prix but a sudden illness resulted in hospitalisation and a no-show for India’s foremost racing driver.

After a difficult start in free practice, Karthikeyan managed to qualiy 10th and 17th for the two races, and whilst Bruce Jouanny crashed out in race one, Karthikeyan brought his car home in 7th spot with Enrico Bernoldi taking the race win. Valuable points for the young Indian but his Tata Carlin Team knew that a good finish in race two was essential in order to keep his hold on second place overall.