Hey, we just got a mail from the Sporting Director of A1GP Team India about the need to use newer Narain Karthikeyan photos in articles (w.r.t. updated sponsors).

Finally some more copyright free photos of Narain Karthikeyan Am posting one here, keeping the rest for other occasions :

Gotta agree the watch does look classy, now only if i could get one for free , the strap reminds be of smooth tyre treads and the numerals remind me of the TV coverage of F1. Meanwhile here is what some important people had to say about the partnership :

TW Steel Managing Director Jordy Cobelens said: “TW Steel is proud to be the ‘Official Watch and Timing partner’ of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport for the next three years. The brand feels completely at home in this branch of sport as both watches and motorsport are all about precision. For TW Steel this new form of collaboration signifies an important step towards continued growth of this young company. This will help us achieve our objective of becoming the biggest brand in the market of oversized watches.”

A1GP Chairman Tony Teixeira , commented: “The first time I saw the TW Steel p rod ucts I realised their individuality was a perfect match for our series. They are new and innovate and now I have seen the one that bears our logo I am even more impressed. TW Steel has brought the right image to our series and as one of our series sponsors are making sure a new audience knows about us. “

A1 Team India secured its second win of the season when Narain Karthikeyan took victory in the Brands Hatch season finale Feature race this afternoon while GBR’s Robbie Kerr notched up another home race podium after a beautiful drive, just losing out to India during the second round of pit stops.

Twenty-eight-year-old Kerr maintained his second place grid spot behind Karthikeyan at the start, pressuring the race leader in the opening stages of the 48-lap race. When India and third-placed Ireland made their first mandatory pit stop on lap eight, GBR opted to stay out in clean air and come in on lap nine. After a fantastic pit stop from the British crew, Kerr rejoined in the lead ahead of India and Ireland. The British racer held P1 until his second compulsory stop on lap 32 when he emerged just behind India to rejoin the action in second. Kerr was unable to pass Karthikeyan during the remaining laps and went on to cross the line second and secure third place overall for GBR in the final championship standings.

Newly crowned A1GP champion A1 Team Switzerland’s Neel Jani joined India and GBR on the podium in third position, the Swiss racer’s 11th podium finish of the season, while China’s Congfu Cheng finished in a superb fourth place after a great weekend at a circuit he knows well from his British F3 days.

Fifth place was taken by Franck Montagny, helping France secure fourth position in the championship. Montagny was followed across the line by the Netherlands’ Jeroen Bleekemolen in a solid sixth, moving the Dutch team into seventh overall in the championship, four points ahead of Germany in eighth.

Defending champion A1 Team Germany endured a disappointing end to season three, finishing eighth in the overall standings. Michael Ammermüller finished 11th in the Sprint race and 19th in the Feature, after a puncture just 10 laps from the end, when he was running in third place, ruined his chances of a podium position this afternoon.

Narain Karthikeyan, who took his maiden A1GP race win in Zhuhai, China in December last year, was delighted to score India’s second race win:

‘I think I made a good start. Robbie tried to go round the outside but I defended that move. When we came out of the first pit stop I had a coming together with Adam Carroll – I didn’t see him because I had a moment and he tried to go up the inside and I hit him. But anyway, a great result for A1 Team India and after the final pit stop my car was mega. I made a mistake at Sheen but at the end it was all good!’

Image Copyright : A1GP.com

China – A1 Team India’s Narain Karthikeyan made history today when he took his and the team’s first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon’s incident-packed Feature race at China’s Zhuhai International Circuit. Karthikeyan was joined on the podium by New Zealand’s Jonny Reid, who started from 10th on the grid, and South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg in third.

The 30-year-old Indian driver, who started from third on the grid, took the lead from New Zealand during the second pit stop window on lap 29 and, despite a huge amount of pressure and some excellent racing from Reid, Karthikeyan held off Black Beauty and went on the cross the line in first place and score India’s first A1GP win in the history of the sport.

South Africa’s Zaugg also enjoyed a strong race to take the final podium position, having started from ninth on the grid. Zaugg was under attack from Germany’s Michael Ammermüller during the last 10 laps of the 45 lap race but the 21-year-old South African pushed hard to take third place ahead of the German rookie who ultimately finished fourth.

Fifth place was taken by Great Britain’s Oliver Jarvis, who got away well from second on the grid and snatched the early lead from pole sitter Switzerland as Brazil, Ireland, Canada and Malaysia were all involved in an incident behind them at turn one, bringing out the safety car for four laps. Fast work in the pits during the first pit stop window allowed Switzerland to steal the lead when they rejoined the action while GBR fell back to sixth place.

Having enjoyed an early lead, the British and Swiss teams were both hampered with delays in their second pit stops due to technical issues, ultimately finishing in fifth and sixth positions respectively. Despite a disappointing finish, GBR’s Jarvis was clearly pushing hard, picking up a bonus point for setting the fastest lap in the Feature race on lap 29.

France, who finished the race seventh, was hit with a drive through penalty on lap 16 due to releasing their car unsafely from its first pit stop. As he drove past the USA pit box, Loic Duval caught the hose connected to one of the airguns causing a USA mechanic to be pulled to the ground.

Tomas Enge, making his A1GP race return for the Czech Republic after an absence of 10 months, had a superb afternoon, racing from 16th on the grid to finish a solid eighth.

Home nation China’s CongFu Cheng, who was running in sixth place on lap 31 after the second round of pit stops, fell down the order to 10th after taking a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The Chinese star was determined not to give up, charging past USA with five laps remaining and finally crossing the line in ninth place, picking up two valuable championship points, moving the team up one position in the overall championship standings.

Netherland’s Jeroen Bleekemolen was forced out of the action on lap nine due to a puncture caused by suspected suspension failure at the final corner while 12th placed Portugal received a drive through penalty on lap five for making a false start.

Narain Karthikeyan, who made history today by scoring India’s first ever A1GP win, praised his team’s brilliant work in the pits:

‘The team has been working really hard at pit stop practices and they’ve done a really good job this weekend. Both the pit stops were excellent and we got ahead but unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on my out lap so I couldn’t push but I came out just ahead of Jonny. There was a lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as well as mine and then we were equal – after that I just got the job done.’

The team India livery now sports the colour blue, the traditional Indian sports colour ! , Narain also got 6th place in the feature race at Sepang.

Photo – A1GP.com

Narain Karthikeyan almost did it, the Williams test driver for their formula one team who is also team India’s A1GP driver almost snatched a podium in the last feature race of the A1GP Championship. He was behind team Italy by only 3/10 of a second at the end. Karthikeyan loved the Brands Hatch circuit, where he has won some F3 races before.

We were fourth, we could have been third, we had the pace for third and it would have been great to get a podium in the last race of the season.

Narain Karthikeyan really is a class driver, Williams should really give him a chance on the circuit instead of the pseudo hero Nico Rosberg. When Narain arrived in team A!GP India, it was in bits and pieces. The team had been tattered and torn by the controversies and sponsor troubles. The team was the back marker of the pack, much like the Minardis. But Karthikeyan single handedly did a turnaround for the team, getting points for the team and almost clinching a podium finish ion the spectacular season finale.

Meanwhile it was Michael Schumacher who awarded the world championship trophy to Team Germany. Some surprise it was for the German A1GP team.

He could not race this weekend due to his prior engagements with the Williams Formula One team of which he is a test driver. Last race weekend Narain Karthikeyan got Team A1GP India its first ever championship points. So a lot of expectations rest on Narain.

“I’m pleased with 10th. It’s a good start, and as I said at the beginning of the week, we are aiming to get some points, and I think we can do that this weekend.

 ”The team didn’t really have any data, because the previous drivers have been quite inexperienced, so we’ve been developing the whole package. We’ll take it one step at a time and build on what we’ve learnt today.