Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok will represent Team India for the Race of Champions 2012. The event will include seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, two-time reigning F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel, MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo and Indycar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. This is the first time any team from India has been invited for the prestigious event.
The end-of-season contest, which is being staged for the 25th consecutive year in 2012, brings together the world’s greatest drivers from motorsport’s main disciplines – including Formula 1, world rally, touring cars, Le Mans, MotoGP, Indycar and the X-Games – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery. Driver’s pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday, December 15, before the individual Race Of Champions on Sunday, December 16.
The Race of Champions is a knockout tournament where the world’s greatest drivers battle to prove they’re the fastest on Earth. Through a series of head-to-head races in identical cars on a parallel track, the stars fight it out to prove they have what it takes to be crowned ‘Champion of Champions’.
Speaking about the opportunity, F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, who drives for HRT this year, said, “It’s really cool to receive an invitation to participate in the Race of Champions. What a fantastic honour it is as well. The competition is the strongest in the world, with only the best of the best from many different forms of motor sport all competing against each other. We will also be gunning for victory, and with a bit of luck, we will bring glory to our nation.”
World Endurance Championship driver Karun Chandhok, who drove for HRT in 2010 , Lotus in 2011 and JRM Racing this year, said, “Narain and I haven’t been in the same team since 2004 when neither of us was an F1 driver. A lot has changed in life since then and it should be a lot of fun to work together again. ROC has always attracted some of the biggest names in world motor sport including Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Mick Doohan and it will be nice to spend time with all these guys as well.”
Fredrik Johnsson, Race Organiser, ROC, is convinced Team India will be a force to reckon with and added, “We have been looking forward to ROC Asia ever since we knew we were coming to Bangkok this year – and the line-up has lived up to our expectations. With the might of China and India in the mix, we hope to see plenty of new motor sport fans cheering on their heroes at the Race of Champions. Narain and Karun are a formidable pairing for Team India and will certainly be a threat.”