Sports India

The Formula One season gets hotter this Sunday with the German Grand Prix. And one person who has been trackside throughout the season is Narain Karthikeyan. As a Williams test driver, Narain doesn’t miss any opportunity to forecast who’ll take the honours. For Hockenheim the bets are on Michael Schumacher. He fells that will be unbeatable on his home track and it’ll be the third Ferrari win in a row.

The money has to be on Michael (Schumacher). He’s been pretty dominant in the last two races. Going to Germany, he’ll have all the fans supporting him, and that’ll give him a boost. So, he’ll be strong from now onwards”, said Narain.

After a year with Jordan, Narain moved to the better rated Williams team and is now hopeful of breaking back in amongst the elite racers, and he wants to keep accelerating till he gets a podium finish. However, he prefers to keep his final pick of cars under wraps for the next couple of months.

“As a driver, I would like to race on Sundays. I think I’ve gained enough experience working with a top-line Formula One team in Williams. The goal was to be the first Indian Formula One driver. Now, the goal is to get points regularly. In order to do this, you need to be with a good team; a team that has the capability of finishing in the top eight every time”, he added.

Karthikeyan will be hoping to see Team Williams finish on the podium this weekend. And with a new deal with Toyota in place, things are looking good for the blue and white brigade.

Narain Karthikeyan says his decision to join Williams as a test driver rather than continue as a race driver with Jordan has helped him explore the intricacies of Formula One technology.

“I have learnt a lot about aerodynamics. It’s about analysing a lot of data,” said Karthikeyan, test driver, Williams Formula 1 team.

Having gained the experience he was looking for with Williams, Narain’s managers are now exploring the options with a couple of teams for him to be a race driver for the next season.

The fastest Indian on Wheels was also elated by Sir Frank William’s recent compliment, where the racing stalwart acknowleged that Karthikeyan has a bright future and is a fast learner.

“It’s a special compliment, especially since it comes from someone like Sir Frank Williams who has been a part of eight world championships,” he added.

India’s first Formula One driver is also doing his bit to promote the sport in India through his newly opened motor racing academy in Coimbatore.

“At present there are four drivers there. We are trying to give them a good platform and let me see how I can help them to reach an international level,” said Karthikeyan.

Tata Group’s pioneering effort towards nurturing Indian sporting excellence found expression in a book titled `To Strive and To Soar’. Sunil Gavaskar, cricket legend, and Narain Karthikeyan, India’s first Formula One driver, released the book, which is in the form of a visual anthology, at a function here on Monday.

Tata Group’s sporting achievers, almost the who’s who of Indian sport, were in attendance.

Gavaskar spoke about Tata Group’s support to exceptional talent, leaving the sportpersons free to focus on the quest for excellence. Narain talked about the importance of timely backing from the Tata Group as an integral part of his foray into Formula One.

Milind Rege introduced the legacy of champions spanning different generations. The book, by Devina Dutt, chronicles the thrust to supporting and encouraging champions of tomorrow in pictorial form, inspired by the group founder Sir Jamshedji Tata.

The Tata Group’s employees list includes one Padma Bhushan awardee, 11 Padma Shris, three Dronacharyas, 41 Arjuna awardees and six world championship winners. Athletes Eddie Sequeira, Adille Sumariwalla, judoka Cawas Billimoria, cueists Geet Sethi and Michael Ferreira, cricketers Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly, mountainer Bachendri Pal, hockey stalwarts Leo Pinto, R.S. Gentle, `Mr. Universe’ Premchand Dogra and footballer Olympian S.S. Narayan are a few distinguished names.

Had Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar accepted the invitation, the evening would have had every news hound agog with curiousity.

They decided to stay away and give the rumour mills some breathing space.
So while the spice was missing, there was enough star value to keep the aficionado happy.

Cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar and Dilip Sardesai; Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, sprinter Adil Sumariwala; shooter Morad Ali Khan; prominent Mumbai industrialists — the guest list was quite lengthy at the launch of a book ‘To Strive And To Soar’.

Instead of runs, milestones and records, words flew with abandon. They dwelled on topics related to Indian sports and the theme of the book.

For instance, Powar and Agarkar spoke about India’s gameplan for the tri-series against Sri Lanka and Rohan Gavaskar, coming out of the the shadow of his father, also spoke on the game.

Gavaskar used the platform to urge the business institutions to enroll sportsmen on their rolls; an endeavor the batting legend felt would provide job security to budding and talented sportsmen.

Meanwhile, Karthikeyan enjoyed his interaction with cricketers and revealed that he does often catch a game of cricket on the telly. The good news for him, of course, would be that his good friend — missing on Monday evening — would be soon found on the cricket field.

The wait is over. Ace Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan has decided the composition of his teams to take part in the 2006 JK Tyres National Racing Championship after weighing the available options.

Narain’s new teams — Amaron NK Racing and Speed NK Racing will comprise Ameya Walavalkar (23 from Mumbai); Aditya Akkineni (17, Hyderabad); Aditya Patel (17, Chennai) and Akhil Khushlani (16, Hyderabad).

According to a press release here, it was decided that one driver with extensive experience in domestic racing would be selected. As Narain would not be able to attend all the scheduled six rounds of the JK Tyre National Championship due to his commitments as a Williams Formula 1 test driver, this was deemed to be important.

And, this led to the selection of the experienced Walavalkar. The other three drivers were selected based on their lap-times, consistency, natural ability, and their career performances to date.

Two reserve drivers have also been selected — Kartik Shankar (19) and Chennai’s 17-year-old lad Ajay Kini.

The suspense is over. India’s Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan has announced his team for the 2006 JK Tyre National championship. It’s Ameya Walavalkar (Mumbai), Aditya Akkineni, Akhil Khuslani (both Hyderabad) and Aditya Patel (Chennai).

“This is my best bunch. They were selected based on their lap-times, consistency, natural ability and career performances. This will be the strongest line-up in the national championship. We are certainly going to set the trend this year and I mean it. I could have put others in the team. They are not bad but we need to show a strong performance,” says Narain.

Narain sees a great potential in his team. “They have different styles of driving. I found Akkineni and Patel very smooth. They certainly make a perfect pair. Akhil is aggressive but a very sensible driver. I feel this is the right combination.”

Surprise choice

Walavalkar’s inclusion came as a big surprise to many as his name did not figure in the list of 12. “The decision was purely mine. Since I will not be available for the entire championship due to my commitments with Williams, I wanted to have an experienced driver to guide the youngsters. Ameya has extensive experience in domestic racing. His knowledge of Indian racing cars from the past seasons will prove to be a great benefit for the team in its first year of operations,” says Narain.

Narain has also picked iAjay Kini (Chennai) and Kartik Shanker (Delhi) as the reserve drivers. “This was not in the scheme of things but I decided it will be an advantage for the team. Kartik is a little inexperienced but he exhibited class and so did Ajay.”

The reserve drivers’ duty will be to step into the shoes of the main drivers in the event of their inability to attend race weekends due to illness, injury and other commitments. “They will receive some financial support to pursue their racing careers in other categories of domestic racing,” says Narain.

Great feeling

Akkineni is thrilled about his inclusion. Speaking from Indonesia, he said: “I was quite confident but, it could have gone either way. I am thankful to Narain for giving me the opportunity and am proud to race for him. Now that I have bagged the chance, I will make the most of it.”

Patel made his pleasure obvious too. “I am really, really happy. I want to thank Amaron and Speed (BPCL) for this initiative and Narain for all the pains in running the programme. I have got my exams to write and once through, I will quickly get to work on my physical fitness.”

Speaking from Mumbai, Walavalkar said: “Feels great. I was always looking for such an opportunity and it came today. It has strengthened my confidence. Narain has given me the most responsible job. I will try to do my best in helping out my team.”

Khuslani wants to get the best results for Narain. “That’s the only way I can express my thanks to him. I am already working hard, and now that I am in the stable of the best Indian driver I will double my efforts.”

In his effort to give back something to the sport with which he rose to fame, fastest Indian on the wheels and the only to be a Formula one driver, Narain Karthikeyan is setting up an academy in his hometown Coimbatore to tap young driving talent.
Narain, who has selected four young prospects in Aditya Akkineni and Akhil Khuslani of Hyderabad, Ameya Walavalker of Mumbai and Aditya Patel of Chennai as the wards for his academy ‘Speed NK Racing’, said when he announced the idea of setting up the academy, he received more than 100 applications from all over the country.

“I also received e-mails from aspirants with detailed performances", Narain said, pointing out how difficult a task it was to select the final four trainees as per various parametres.

He picked 14 young drivers from a long list of aspirants and called them for the ’shoot out’ to pick the final four plus two reserves.

“I will take one step at a time,” he said when asked whether he would increase the number of drivers based on the success of the academy, adding “it is still in the early stage.”

He said the four trainees at the academy would be given full sponsorship this year’s JK Tyres National Racing Championship.

“It will be a unique opportunity for them to concentrate just on racing without any financial pressure and learn the art,” he added.

Buoyed about his venture Narain said, “I am really happy to give these young guns the opportunity to mould themselves into international standard professional racing drivers.”

He said the two reserve drivers - Karthik Shankar of Delhi and Ajay Kini of Hyderabad - would also be given some financial assistance to pursue a career in racing, in other categories of domestic competitions.

Besides, their job would be to get behind the wheels in case any of the main drivers was unable to attend the weekend race due to indisposition, injury or clashing educational commitments.

Narain said the team sponsors were continuing their association with him, supporting his vision of grooming young talent.

“The six round ‘Formula Rolon’category of J K Tyres National Racing championship in 120 BHP, 1.6 litre fuel enjucted engined single seater car will be the highest category of seater racing in India,” Narain said.

Ameya Walavalkar (Mumbai), Aditya Akkineni, Akhil Khushlani (both Hyderabad) and Aditya Patel have been handpicked by Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan for the NK Racing teams, which will compete in the Formula Rolon category of the JK Tyres National racing championships 2006, which will be held from August 20.

Kartik Shankar (Delhi) and Ajay Kini (Chennai) are the reserves of the team.

Narain, despite his busy schedule, spent almost four days before finalising the drivers for the teams - Amaron NK racing and Speed NK Racing.

The Williams F1 test driver had received nearly 200 applications and fourteen were shortlisted. Narain himself watched the boys, who had undergone trials at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on Tuesday.

“I was solely responsible for the selection of these boys after a shoot-out in which twelve contenders participated. I have all the support from the sponsors Amaron, BPCL Speed and JK Tyres and all of them gave me a free hand,” Narain said.

He added that he had analysed the large amount of data collected during the shoot-out on Tuesday and also considered their past records and achievements and the teamwork skills before finalising the team.

He said he picked one driver with extensive experience in domestic racing as “His knowledge of Indian racing cars from the past seasons will prove to be a great asset to the team in it’s first year of operations. The others were selected based on their lap-times, consistency, natural ability, and their career performances to date.”

Ameya Walavalkar, the 23-year-old from Mumbai is the most experienced and the rest Aditya Akkineni (17 yrs), Aditya Patel (17 yrs) and Akhil Khushlani (16 yrs) are very promising drivers. The reserve drivers - Kartik Shankar (19 years) and Ajay Kini (17 years) will get the chance in case any main driver is unable to attend a race weekend.

Narain Karthikeyan has chosen former national karting champion Ameya Walavalkar to spearhead his racing team’s challenge in the 2006 JK Tyres National Racing Championship. The 25-year-old Khar resident’s chance to win the championship last year was foiled after his car was sabotaged before the final race.

“Narain’s trust in me is quite a morale booster. Now I will finally be able to drive upto my potential,” said Walavalkar.

Along with him, BMW Asia contender Aditya Akinneni, Aditya Patel and Akhil Khushlani round off the foursome. The interesting bit is that while they may be speed demons on track, all three are too young to even hold a driving license.

Narain has obviously chosen Walavalkar to make a strong bid for the overall crown in the Formula Rolon and keep the sponsors happy.

The Mumbaikar will also be expected to serve as mentor for the other three when Narain’s Formula One commitments make it difficult for him to be present at the races.

The credentials of both Khushlani and Patel are impressive. While the former is the only Asian to figure in the top five of the world finals of the Rotax Karting Championship, Patel has to his credit the distinction of being one of the youngest race winners in the Formula LGB category.

Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, the only Indian to break into the elite circuit makes his contribution to Indian motor sports by training young race drivers to break into the big league.

Race cars zipped across a track in India’s southern Coimbatore where 14 aspiring drivers from across the country raced it out under the watchful eye of Karthikeyan himself to make it to the top four to participate in the Formula Rolon Category of the 2006 JK Tyre National Racing Championship.

As part of his initiative to groom young upcoming talents Karthikeyan together with corporates Amron, Speed (BPCL) and JK Tyres had selected the 14 candidates and created two teams to train the upcoming talents, helping them hone their skills and evolve into better drivers.

“Obviously I had contact with these two sponsors who have been backing me for a long time so I put everything together as I had a little bit more time this year and you know I’m giving back something to the sport in a small way, so, it is a start and hopefully it will become bigger,’ said Karthikeyan.

The selected four will be given an opportunity to participate in India’s premiere category of racing.

Karthik Shankar, one of the hopefuls said he will do his best to be picked out of the rest.

“I’ve been racing for over a year now. I was doing the Formula multi-championship last year and about being selected in the top 14 by Narain Karthikeyan himself is no less than an honour. It is the biggest thing that has happened to me in my career and I really hope to make the best out of it by finishing in the top four and getting an opportunity to race for Narain’s team,” he said.

Each team of two cars will participate in six rounds of championship, which will commence in Coimbatore and conclude at Chennai in December.