motor sports

Narain Karthikeyan has always been linked with motorsport. He set himself the target of becoming the first ever Indian F1 driver and so began to race from a very young age. Moving up from single-seater racing, in 2001, Karthikeyan became the first Indian ever to drive a Formula 1 car when he tested for Jaguar at Silverstone. In 2005 he made the step into F1, after having spent 12 seasons in lower categories, when he joined Jordan. He scored five points in his debut season after finishing fourth at the United States GP. In 2006 and 2007, he was the test driver for Williams and left Formula 1 at the end of that stint with the British outfit, moving onto various different championships such as A1GP where he represented Team India and won two races in 2007. In 2009 he raced in the Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24 hours before becoming the first ever Indian to take part in this legendary event. In 2010, Karthikeyan competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the USA and in the Superleague Formula in Europe, where he only completed half a season for PSV Eindhoven and won one race at Brands Hatch. In 2011, he joined HRT and began a new chapter in Formula 1 in which he took part in nine races, including the Indian Grand Prix. Karthikeyan made history at the Buddh International Circuit when he became the first and only local driver to race at the inaugural event.