Kathikeyan all set for the big league

Karthikeyan, who is the only Indian ever to have test driven a contemporary Formula 1 car, has moved to British team Carlin Motorsport for this season. He first drove for Carlin in 1999 and 2000, registering high-profile victories in the prestigious British Formula 3 championships for the outfit.

Carlin has already established itself as one of the top teams in the TWS and Karthikeyan and team mate Bruce Jouanny have been setting excellent lap Times in pre-season testing.

‘‘Testing has been going very well. Carlin is a new team to the championship and it is learning very quickly. I have been ininvolved with them for a long time, and they are like a family to me,’’ Karthikeyan said.

Qaulifying rounds for the two races will take place on Saturday afternoon, with the two races running the day after. Karthikeyan is likely to challenge for top-three finishes in the races at the circuit where he recorded his best finish of 2002.

‘‘Even though Jarama is not my favourite type of circuit, because it is very slow and bumpy. I still finished third in one of the races there. This year we’re definitely aiming for at least a podium finish and possibly a win this weekend. We’ll do the best we can this season and fight to win the races, then we shall see how the championship takes shape,’’ said Karthikeyan.