Narain Karthikeyan’s dream of making it to Formula 1 seems to have suffered a serious setback. A day after he tested with European Minardi, the Italy-based team was reported to have signed Italian Gianmaria Bruni as one of its two drivers for the 2004 season.Bruni (22), a test driver with Minardi since last year, was one among the five the team tested in its three-day run at the Valleunga circuit. Confirming Bruni’s signing, Minardi’s spokesperson Graham Jones told The Indian Express from London: ‘‘Minardi was highly impressed with the Italian.’’ European Minardi boss Paul Stoddart was quoted by the team’s website as saying; ‘‘We’ve chosen him (Bruni) because we think he has fantastic natural ability behind the wheel of a race car and is a fitting successor to previous European Minardi drivers, such as Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Justin Wilson. We are absolutely confident he is a new Formula One star in the making.”That seems to have shot Karthikeyan’s chances, as Minardi had recently expressed their intention of sigining the vastly experienced Jos Verstappen, sacked from Jaguar Racing, or former teammate Justin Wilson for the remaining slot. Karthikeyan, back in Coimbatore, sounded upbeat when contacted by this reporter. ‘‘I do stand a chance’’, he asserted. ‘‘It’s only one driver they named and several names are being considered.’’‘‘At least getting a chance to be their test driver (Friday testing) would be an achievement of sorts’’, he finally conceded.
