Karthikeyan 'to lead Jordan in 2005.'
Narain Karthikeyan is set to become the first Indian driver to race in Formula One after agreeing a deal to race for Jordan in 2005, according to reports.
The Reuters news agency reports that Karthikeyan, who has links to new team owners Midland through his time with the Carlin F3 team of sporting director Trevor Carlin, will hold a press conference in Bombay later today [Tuesday] in which he will officially announce the deal.
Narain Karthikeyan is set to become the first Indian driver to race in Formula One after agreeing a deal to race for Jordan in 2005, according to reports.
The Reuters news agency reports that Karthikeyan, who has links to new team owners Midland through his time with the Carlin F3 team of sporting director Trevor Carlin, will hold a press conference in Bombay later today [Tuesday] in which he will officially announce the deal.
"Narain has been offered a full drive by Jordan as their number one driver. He has accepted it," manager Sanjay Sharma is quoted as saying. "Trevor Carlin's presence was a big plus as he had always bet on Narain's capabilities."
As of yet there has been no word from the actual team over whether or not the Indian, who competed in the Nissan World Series in 2004 and had a test with the Red Bull Cheever Racing IRL team in October, will be one of its drivers, but if the deal is confirmed it could increase press speculation that German driver Timo Glock is eying a switch to the Champ Car World Series rather than another season of F1.
Jordan remain the only team on the F1 grid yet to announce at least one driver for the upcoming season.
