Narai Karthikeyan joins Jordan/Midland

The Jordan 'team' seems to be following the Jaguar F1 book of how not to run a team. Many of the employees are leaving or have been sacked and the only way the remaining employees seem to be getting any info is through the media. The way things happened today was as follows:

1) Karthikeyan's manager announces that he has been offered the drive as number 1 driver for Jordan and has accepted.

2) Jordan spokesperson says they have "no idea" as to the validity of these reports.

3) Jordan spokesperson says "I can confirm that we are in talks with Narain however nothing official has been confirmed. We hope to announce our drivers within the next few days"

Shouldn't this have happened in the Order of 2-3-1?

I think EJ got out at the right time...

 

Is Karthikeyan any good, what's his track record in junior formulae?

 

Can you say money and connections !!!!!!!! Don't have time to post right now but Karthikeyan has never won anything of note besides Asian Formula Series (which ain't anything to take note of). He got absolutely killed in Formula Nippon in 2001 and nearly got sacked half way through the season. He finished 15th overrall same year Firman competed in the series.

He drove for Trevor Carlin in F3 (where he was average at best) and Carlin is now director of Midland the group that bought into Jordan.

Karthikeyan couldn't even get a drive with Minardi last season (Stoddard offered him the drive) because he couldn't raise enough money at the time.

Another Alex Yoong but with more money.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

I went to Karthikeyan's website. Apparently his backed by the Tata Group (huge Indian conglomerate) and that's I guess how he is paying for the drive.
A Mexican driver I know well was tipped off late last year for an eventual seat with Midland in '06 (before it bought Jordan). He was also being backed by a large conglomerate.
Midland will clearly be a safe heaven for pay drivers.

 

I assume the Mexican driver you refer to is Mario Domiguez from CART ?

Jon

 

Yes, in the early 9O's while racing karts we shared mechanics and engine tuners for a couple of years. Mario is a much better driver than it seems as he's had terrible equipment at cart but I'm not sure how he would do in F1.

 

Actually, I think Narain is pretty good, alot better than Tarso Marquez, Alex Yoong and Bautmanger(whatever). Anyways, he finished 4th in the British F3 championship. He was there for two seasons and won 4 times and had 8 podiums. He did get worked in Formula Nippon, but actually did pretty well in Formula Nissan, he had a few wins and I think he finished third in the championship last season. He was also always faster than his teammates. In addition he won the Korean F3 Grandprix, same year Takuma Sato competed and won it by 4 seconds. He was faster than Dario Franchitti in the Jaguar F1 and was a second off in Jordan to Alesi in the rain. I would be interesting to see how he does. To answer the question about him getting the drive because of money, of course. Isn't that how it is in racing these days, you need money to drive in a top series.

 

You know for a country like india who has no knowledge of racing or any other sports, Narain has done a pretty good job. I think he has a little talent. You got to take into consideration that India is not known for sports. But I gurantee you, him driving in F1 is going to open alot of doors for Indian drivers. Remember there is over a billion of us, there's got to be some guy out there who is the next Senna or Schumacher. By the way have you heard of Neel Jani, half indian and half Swedish and has dominated in Formula Renault V6 and is Sauber's test driver.

 

He did win the British Formula Ford Winter series and like you said the Asian Formula Series. Nothing spectacular...

 

This is a step in the right direction for F1. I think he will be fine. Remember, he has a much better track record than Sato. Sato too had no major accomplishments before entering F1.

I think Karthikeyan will perform much better than Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni. In fact I think that Narain will perform better than any other paying driver in F1 this year. I am a big suporter of openning up F1 to Asian markets that do not have restrictions on Tobacco sponsorship and the environmentalists. Jordan Midland F1 are going to some great supporters in India by such a move.

 

Regardless of whether he's good, Karthikeyan signing goes along with Ecclestone's ideas of emerging markets for F1. He will come with new sponsors that will boost potential Indian GP plans

 

Uhhh................what planet were you on on between 99 and 2001...Mars ??

Better record than Sato......AT WHAT........tipping cows !!! No proven accomplishments.....................uhhhhh...he re-wote the F3 record books.

People seem to forget that Sato never drove a race car until 1998. And although it says he raced karts in 1997, that is pure fluff as he raced a season in Japanese FA2 Championship that wasn't even considered top flight (he won that).

He was a budding cyclist with no motorsport background at all. In only his second year in a RACE car he finished 4th in the Nationals class of British F3, which is some of the best racing in the world.

In his first season of F3 he started winning races, beating people like Pizza Boy, Bruni, and matching Jenson Button and Luciano Burti.

Karthikeyan was a mid-packer that same season sometimes finishing in the back of the pack. Go to the F3 website and look up the lap times of Sato vs. Karthikeyan that same season. Sato was quicker in "budget" machinery.

Despite running in the under funded "National" class where cars are older and get little or no factory support Sato ran quicker lap times than Karthikeyan. This from a guy who had less than 2 years of time in a race car.

2000. He raced against Kiesa, Bruni, Priaulx, Scheckter, and Paffett (heard of any of these guys?). He did quite well and finished just ahead of Karthikeyan who had Stewart (as in Jackie Stewart) funding the whole effort. Sato finished 3rd in F3 that year (his third year in racing).

In 2001 when you were hibernating on Mars or wherever, Sato dominated F3 like no one else in the history of the sport. He won 12 races, won the Masters at Zandvoort, won the Macau and re-wrote the history books.

Lest you forget, everyone's favorite up and coming Brit, Anthony Davidson got his a$$ handed to him on a weekly basis by his teammate Sato (both drove for Carlin). That same season saw other big name stars get creamed by Sato, including Priaulx, James Courtney (who at one time was the next great British hope), Derek Hayes and Bruni.

Before you go on spouting about all that factory backing Sato gets from Honda you might want to check up on your facts. Carlin motorsports ran both Davidson and Sato and both enjoyed the same team, same engineers, and same cars. If anything Davidson got better treatment because he was a "favorite boy" at Carlin long before Sato showed up.

Sato set 15 fastest laps, won 16 races overall, led nearly 240 laps of the 450 run that season, and only two retirements. He beat many of Senna's F3 records including poles, wins, and number of laps led.

I am not a Sato fan and couldn't care less if he ever wins another race, but your blatant Sato bashing and blatant ignorance of the facts are astounding.

I follow the lower formula every year from F3 to F3000 and I can tell you Sato had some unbelievable talent in F3 his 3 years there. Karthikeyan won some races where people dropped out. Sato just demolished his competition.

Comparing those two in terms of their F3 results is like comparing DC to MS !

You need to get out a bit more and diversify your open wheel experience beyond F1.

In reference to Karthikeyan, who knows he may prove to be talented, but at Jordan no one will ever know. Pantano showed real talent in F3000 but he got stuck with something slower than a French lorry.

Regards,

Jon

 

I agree....Sato absolutely dominated British F3 like no one had previously. He made Davidson his *****.

 

Nice post Jon, Imperial Putz's usual Sato bashing crap.

 

Here are some links to the world series website about Narain Karthikenyan's performances in practice and qualifying. I know it doesn't mean much unless you win a championship, but it does show his potential. In addition, he did beat Sato a few times in British F3, especially at the Korean Super prix. As for Sato winning the championship the next year and breaking the record for most wins, you have to remember that F3 has increased their races per weekend. Otherwise, I do think Sato is great, I think he just gets to excited in the car, he needs to calm down a little bit.

http://www.worldseriesrpm.com/2002/english/news/n80.htm
http://www.worldseriesrpm.com/2002/english/news/n85.htm
http://www.worldseriesrpm.com/2002/english/news/n77.htm

 

Excellent reply Jon. There seem to be too many 'Google' racing experts out there.

 

I agree, I was wrong about Sato's past performance! However, he is a wreckless F1 driver and would not be in F1 if it was not for Honda's backing.

I still think Karthikeyan will perform well if given the chance and rank higher than other paying drivers.

 

Spot on....and now with the announcement of Tiago Montiero as his team mate....this will be a disaster year for Jordan......not good to see EJ's team and name go out this way.....nevertheless...we'll see....but I agree with your Alex Yoon comparison.....this will likely go nowhere.

hps

 

Hey Jon, you are just the guy to ask. I never have time to follow any other series, so it is hard to figure out some of the new "kids". I read where Karthikeyan is kind of a Montoya charactor - a little rough around the edges and agressive to the point of self-defeat. Not having seen him and knowing how the media can screw up a wet dream, maybe you can offer some insight?

Also, what do the new guys have to do to get their Superlicense these days?
Thanks,
Jim

 

Saw it in the news.
Karthikeyan was close to signing so I'm not surprised but Monteiro (Portuguese), I wasn't expecting him getting a Jordan drive. I thought Doornbos would get it.
And what happen to Glock? He had potential to be a great driver in F1. Some say he's going in Champ Car.

 

John,

I have to disagree with you on Jordan choosing Narain. I know he came in with a lot of backing, but so did Klien, Baumtgarner, Patano and of course Yoong. Unfortunatley these days you need money to race, especially in F1. Its sad because they are some many good drivers out there, but can't get a ride because of money. As for Narain, I think he is a way better driver than Alex Yoong and I have a feeling he will do quite well this season. I know he had a dismal year in Formula Nippon and we do not know why, but if you look at his history in other formula's, they were times that he showed his speed. Please refer to my earlier post on Formula Nissan. Everything he raced besides Formula Nippon, he won races. If you look at Carlin motorsports history, they mentioned that it was Narian that made them successful. He always outpaced his teammates, besides Takuma Sato. Where as Alex Yoong, was a back marker in everything he raced. I guarentee you Narain will outpace his teammate Tiego Monteiro. Here is a link to Carlin Motorsport history.

Vic

http://www.carlin.co.uk/carlin.php?page=history