India’s Formula One aspirant Narain Kartikeyan will hoping it’s third time lucky. After two earlier attempts — with Jaguar and Jordan — Kartikeyan will, for three days beginning Friday, test for European outfit Minardi Cosworth.But it’s a long shot to the F1 starting grid for a driver who, at age 26, will feel that this is his last shot at the big time. The test — at the Vallelunga circuit, near Rome — is only the first step of a lengthy process; should Narain clear this hurdle, there are several more before he can actually race against the Schumachers.First up, Narain will show off his skills alongside Argentina’s Jose Maria Lopez, Fabrizio Del Monte (Italy) and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen. The last named is the hot contender for one of the team’s two slots for the next calendar year — the other is likely to go to Justin Wilson, ex-Jaguar.As part of the test, one of European Minardi’s regular 2003 drivers will shoulder a technical workload that includes tyre testing for Bridgestone, engine development work for Cosworth Racing, and the evaluation of the PS03 chassis components for the 2004 European Minardi.‘‘The driver evaluation part of the exercise is simply an example of the team’s policy of seeking out the best young talents on the motor racing scene and introducing them to Formula One in a controlled and responsible way. It is obviously an approach that has paid off handsomely, as we saw at Monza this year, when eight of the 20 competitors on the starting grid for the Italian GP were either former or current Minardi drivers,’’ said Paul Stoddart, European Minardi Team Principal, on their official website.
