Sports India

Ever since he secured a seat with Jordan, India’s first-ever F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan has been studying the Sepang F1 Circuit from television footage.

And he will get a chance to test out what he has learnt when the first practice session of the Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix gets underway today.

Narain, the son of former Indian national rally champion Karthikeyan, said he was eagerly looking forward to his second F1 race despite its challenging hot and humid weather.

�To me, this country is special. It�s a very special feeling as it�s so close to my home country,� said Narain, who will be racing at Sepang F1 Circuit for the first time although he has had plenty of experience driving in the now-closed Batu Tiga Circuit in Shah Alam.

�Even if I have not raced on the track before, I know that it is a good circuit, and quite difficult. It�s got a lot of interesting corners, both high-speed and low-speed, and it�s quite long.

�This circuit is high speed and at the same time, it looks really technical and challenging for a driver. At least this is what I guessed from seeing the track from last year�s on-board footage film only!� added the Jordan driver.

�Above all, about Malaysia, I really enjoy the food, which is excellent. It�s such an interesting mixture of every culture including Indian, Malay and Chinese and other international cuisine. This melting pot makes you feel good wherever you are and whatever you feel like doing,� he said.

Narain flew directly from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur last week to allow himself plenty of time to acclimatise to the weather. He is currently staying in the deluxe five-star Westin hotel in Kuala Lumpur and has been working out at the gym daily.

�My trainer Gerard came along with me and we worked for four intensive hours every day on the cardio-ratio rhythm, and on building up my neck muscles to absorb the G-forces in the F1 car and to also to acclimatise to the humidity and heat-stress factors.

�Because of the high temperature and high rate of evaporation, Malaysia is physically very tough for a driver.�

Narain feels Malaysia is like a second home to him.

�Amongst the multi-national population there are lots of Indians who speak Tamil even if the national language is Bahasa Malaysia, and I feel at home,� said the 28-year-old from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India.

�I know the country well as I have raced before in the Junior Formula Asia on the Shah Alam track and I have lots of friends here.

�I suppose that being familiar with the country is one of the reasons why people and fans recognise me on the street. I went to the shopping mall in the Kuala Lumpur for instance and attracted a lot of interest. It’s also because of the number of people of Indian origin here.�

Narain feels he will be better prepared for his second race after finishing 15th in his debut race in Australia two weeks ago. He was the highest achiever among the four rookies who made their debut in Melbourne.

�The engineers have analysed last week�s race and have a lot of data to pass on to me for a better race this time round. We�ve got a lot of work to do especially because the conditions will be different than in Australia.

�The key priority to doing well here will be fitness and acclimatising. One also has to fight against dehydration because of the high ambient temperatures and humidity,� he added.

That means a hot, hot race for the aspiring Indian star.