Finishing On A High: Narain Karthikeyan Seeks Victory

At the time of printing, it was still unknown whether Narain Karthikeyan’s disqualification in the final AutoGP World Series race of the season would stand or not. Karthikeyan had finished second after a recovery drive that saw him damage the front section of his Super Nova International team car.

Even without the 15 points he would get for second, Karthikeyan would end the season a very strong fourth in the championship standings. His race win tally of five for the season is the joint highest along with Japanese Kimiya Sato.

It’s an overall performance Karthikeyan is happy with against what he sees as a field that features strong drivers in the top seven. But with Formula 1 firmly out of the picture, Karthikeyan has been mulling over how to leverage his 2013 performance into a drive with a series or championship of good repute.

Once again, an Indycar drive is on the 36-year-old’s radar, as it has been for a while by his own admission.

“I have always wanted to try out a season at least in Indycar racing,” said Karthikeyan. “The cars are fast, the races are close and the grid is really strong. But it all depends on whether I can manage to get a test with a team first.”

On paper, Karthikeyan is a fairly attractive option for Indycar as the series keeps trying to recover from a hurtful split in the series from 1996 to 2007. The series has an international field which was enhanced by the arrival of former F1 driver Takuma Sato in 2010. The series has featured eleven different winners this season and due to a more egalitarian revenue sharing system and budget controls, it’s easier to make money there too.

Certainly with the better part of a career spent spending money in F1 despite strong Formula 3 performances, Karthikeyan could do with using his talents to become one of the few racing drivers in the world who actually make money through racing activities.

It would be a great way to keep going for a driver who did more than enough to break through the glass ceiling of F1 and play his part in putting Indian motorsport on the map.