To Silverstone, for licence to thrill

And the man himself appeared confident. ‘‘I’ll sign the deal thereafter’’, Karthikeyan told The Indian Express today. And then he’ll be putting in hours of testing, probably at Barcelona.

That, says Romit Chatterji, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Tata Services Ltd, is an ‘‘indicator on its own about Narain’s dream.’’

It’s the second angle — finances — which remains unclear. For all his talent, Narain has to effectively buy his place as a Jordan driver on the F1 grid. The price: Rs 20 crore.

That’s a lot of money for what is likely to be one season in the top flight and, though he has an impressive cast of sponsors, there was no confirmation of agreement on paying this amount.

Chatterji, contacted in South Africa, responded to this issue by saying, ‘‘Talk to Narain since we (Tata) are just one of the three sponsors.’’ The others are BPCL and JK Tyres, whose motorsport head Sanjay Sharma was unavailable for comment.

What appears to be in Narain’s favour is the fact that both Trevor Carlin, Jordan’s racing chief, and the Midland group, which owns the team, have reason to want the Coimbatore man on board. Carlin’s reasons are both personal and professional (see box).

Midland’s are rooted in business. Owned by Russian-Canadian Alex Shnaider, the Toronto-based group’s core interest is steel, and is said to be looking at expanding to India (it already has a presence in China). The Daily Telegraph’s racing correspondent Kevin Garside noted as much, saying the ‘‘selection had more to do with meeting the insatiable demands of marketing men seeking new continents to tap than racing criteria’’.

‘‘The 28-year-old’s arrival is expected to prompt the hasty deposit of much-needed rupees into the Jordan coffers, with sponsors said to be queuing up to ride on the side pods of the history-maker from Coimbatore’’, he wrote.