HRT confirm Karthikeyan’s Indian drive

HRT have confirmed that Narain Karthikeyan will be back in action at his home race, the Indian Grand Prix…

HRT have confirmed that Narain Karthikeyan will be back in action at his home race, the Indian GP.

Karthikeyan was replaced at HRT by Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the British GP with reports claiming he would return to his race-seat for October’s inaugural Indian GP.

The team has now confirmed Karthikeyan’s participation at the Buddh International Circuit.

And in order to get the Indian driver up to speed, he will take part in the first practice in Singapore next weekend.

“It is great to have Narain back in the car as it will give him critical seat time before he drives at the Indian GP,” said team boss Colin Kolles.

“He is the best driver to come out of the region and is undoubtedly extremely talented as he has proved through his progress this season.”

Meanwhile, Karthikeyan is relishing his return to F1 racing. “Of course it’s a great feeling to be driving on a grand prix weekend once again, and on the subject of my home grand prix of India, the team had assured me that I’d be driving when I stepped out of my seat after the European GP.

“The Singapore circuit will definitely be a challenge as it is new to me so I’ll have to get to grips with it fairly quickly. From what I know, it is a very demanding race physically, not only because of the temperatures and humidity but also being a high-speed street circuit it is extremely bumpy.

“Like any other street circuit, grip builds up through the weekend and car-setup will have to be constantly evolved to get the best out of it.

“Overall, it is a great place to return to race proceedings, and will go a long way to get me back in the rhythm for the Indian GP. Also my sincere thanks to my ever faithful sponsor the Tata Group, and recent support from both Hero Motors and Base batteries”.