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This is an archive article published on August 21, 2005

No rain on Karthikeyan’s parade

Narain Karthikeyan’s immediate wish will sound like anathema to Mumbaikars — he wants it to pour on all race days — but it co...

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Narain Karthikeyan’s immediate wish will sound like anathema to Mumbaikars — he wants it to pour on all race days — but it could be his best bet yet. Frustrated by a Jordan that, by the exacting standards of Formula 1, handles like an airport trolley and has more colour than speed on its wings, Karthikeyan is seeking divine intervention to neutralise technology and prolong his Formula 1 career.

If he is capable of producing better results, a wet race is perhaps his last chance to show team principals that he deserves a better car. The ‘silly season’ — paddock lingo for who’s going where — is on. The first shards of truth are beginning to emerge from the rumours flying around. Felipe Massa is taking Rubens Barrichello’s seat at Ferrari. Barrichello is moving to BAR, either to form a challenging twosome with Jenson Button or, if Williams yank away Button against his wishes, as a replacement for him.

There are at least four drives available with better teams but Karthikeyan, among the least experienced and without standout performances, merely makes up the numbers. His only shot, and a pretty long one at that, for a promotion is a spot on the Red Bull team, alongside David Coulthard. Realistically, though, he will at best get the crumbs: buy another drive at Jordan or Minardi, or be a test driver in a better team. At worst, he could be out of F1.

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Barring a steady drive in a partly wet track in Melbourne, his first qualifying drive in F1, Karthikeyan has created few impressionable moments. It seems that he, along with fellow Jordan driver Tiago Monteiro and the two Minardi drivers, is running a race of his own.

New Jordan sporting relations manager Johnny Herbert, who spent some years in the shadows of Michael Schumacher at Benetton, is advising Karthikeyan to ‘‘stay calm’’ and ‘‘not overdrive’’. Relations with the Jordan brass have been characterised by a typical driver-team feud — they have issues with the way he drives, he has issues with the car they give him to drive!

On the track, about the most eventful thing happening for him has been a potentially race-ending, trash-talking scrap with 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve for position number 15.

So really, how does Karthikeyan stack up as an F1 driver? Nestled in grandstands and in front of TV screens, unable to gauge how much a handicap to give on account of inferior machinery, we can’t tell. The teams have spreadsheets that break down driver performance, but they don’t tell it like it is. Neither do the drivers. Other than the outspoken Eddie Irvine, drivers are not known to confess their human imperfections. It’s always the car or the track or the tyres that is the cause for why they didn’t do the perfect lap and finish first!

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It’s no different with Karthikeyan. What’s known is that he deserves to be in the pinnacle of motor sport. What’s not is whether he is a better driver and worthy of a better car. That will, largely, determine whether he can make his way up the grid.

About the only crude scale of measure is comparison with teammate Monteiro, which makes for mixed reading. In the 13 races so far, Karthikeyan has bettered Monteiro in qualifying eight times, but has finished higher than him in the race only 5 times. He has speed, but is less consistent.

Since Karthikeyan is not making an impression big enough to draw the likes of Saubers and Red Bulls, it seems staying in F1 means going around with a begging bowl and trying to buy a drive for another year. There are several other drivers waiting in the wings — sons of illustrious race drivers, promising wards of high-profile managers, drivers from countries where the main sponsors have bigger interests.

It’s been a roller-coaster of a year for Karthikeyan. He has given F1 greater visibility back home and motor-racing impetus. From Coimbatore to Chandigarh, kids with a love for speed and the thrill of competition — and with ingredients as basic as that, there are going to be scores — are probably strapping up in the belief that even they can burn that same path without being ridiculed. But for now, conditions and circumstances are conspiring to rain on Karthikeyan’s parade.

Kimi fastest; Narain fails to complete

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Narain Karthikeyan was laid low by engine problems on the new Istanbul Park circuit and failed to complete the qualifying session of the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix here today. The 28-year-old Indian was the victim of consecutive engine problems and experienced two engine changes in the morning sessions which prevented him from completing any lap. Besides Karthikeyan, Jacques Villeneuve, the world champion in 1997, and Minardi driver Robert Doorbnoos, also did not complete the qualifying session.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari pulled into the pits across the 10th turn and decided not to set a time. McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen claimed the pole position setting himself another chance to bridge the gap with Fernando Alonso of Renaults, who is leading on the points table after 13 races. Raikkonen was quickest with 1 minute and 26.797 seconds to dominate the fleet of 16 drivers who finished successfully in the error-strewn qualifying session. Narain’s teammate Tiago Monteiro was 15th in 1:30.710 secs behind Takuma Sato of BAR-Honda. (PTI)

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