Team India is now a force to reckon with at the Race of Champions (ROC) and all credit goes to the duo of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. This year too they will be representing the country at the Race of Champions 2013 being held in Bangkok from December 14-15. The former Formula 1 drivers will be aiming for a second victory in a row.
At last year's inaugural ROC Asia, they won against their competitors from China, Japan and host nation Thailand before defeating team Japan in the final. It was their win that earned them an invite to the prestigious event this year.
Chandhok and Karthikeyan are the only Indian drivers ever to have competed in F1 and both have impressive track records. 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 taken victories in everything from British F3 to A1GP and Superleague Formula before enjoying success this year in AutoGP including a haul of five wins.
Chandhok excited by the invitation took to Twitter to announce his participation as well. He tweeted, “Very happy to announce that @narainracing and I are going back as Team India to the @RaceOfChampions this year !!
He further goes on to say, “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. It was really nice to drive such a variety of cars and we both have more experience this year and know a bit more about how it all works.”
The ROC 2013 will take place on a specially constructed tarmac track with two parallel lanes winding their way round Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium. Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday, December 14, ahead of the individual Race Of Champions on Sunday, December 15.
Meanwhile, Karthikeyan feels his work is cut out for him. He shares his excitement and he says, "It will be a great privilege to represent India again at the Race Of Champions. We had a great time at our first attempt but it is always a challenge to jump into different cars and adapt quickly. However, with the experience of the 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.”
Held every year since 1988, the ROC brings together the world's greatest drivers from motor sport's main disciplines - including Formula 1, World Rally, Le Mans, MotoGP, Nascar, IndyCar, Touring Cars and the X-Games. Seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and newly-crowned World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier have already signed up and the rest of the 2013 line-up will be announced in the run-up to December’s event.
