Chandhok, Narain pair up for Team India in 2013 Race of Champions

Bangkok: Team India returns to the 2013 Race of Champions here in December with former F1 drivers Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan pairing up for the second time. The Indian pair join F1 great Michael Schumacher, Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen and WRC king Sebastien Ogier in the field for ROC 2013 to be held at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium on the weekend of December 14-15. [caption id=“attachment_1171481” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narain Karthikeyan will partner Karan Chandok in the Race of Champions. AFP[/caption] Chandhok and Karthikeyan are the only Indian drivers ever to have competed in F1 and both have extensive racing pedigrees elsewhere too. Chandhok is a race-winner in GP2 and has since turned his hand to endurance racing with strong finishes in the last two Le Mans 24-Hour races. Karthikeyan has tasted victories from British F3 to A1GP and Superleague Formula before enjoying considerable success this year in AutoGP. The two drivers joined forces for Team India at last year’s inaugural ROC Asia. They topped the group stages with four wins out of six against their competitors from China, Japan and host nation Thailand before defeating the Japanese duo in the final to take the title. That performance has now earned Chandhok and Karthikeyan an invitation to return to the scene of their triumph in Bangkok for ROC 2013. Chandhok said, “I’m very excited to be going back to Bangkok for the Race Of Champions. Narain and I had a great time together last year and it was fantastic to be the first ROC Asia winners. ROC is a unique event from a competitive and social perspective and it’s something that every driver looks forward to. Karthikeyan said, “It will be a great privilege to represent India again at the ROC. We had a great time at our first attempt when we won ROC Asia but it’s always a challenge to jump into different cars and adapt quickly. However, with the experience of 2012 event behind us, we feel more confident and better prepared this time. As always, going head to head with world champions like Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Ogier is something we’re looking forward to.” PTI