The Hindu : Sport : Narain's test goes off well

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

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Sport - Sports : General

Narain's test goes off well

BARCELONA, FEB. 16. Narain Karthikeyan looks primed for his Grand Prix debut in Melbourne next month as the racer from Coimbatore had his longest stint so far in an F1 car at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday.

Both the new Jordan F-1 drivers, Narain and Portuguese Tiago Monteiro took to the track with the Indian driving the EJ15 and Monteiro using a developmental version based on last year's EJ14.

Narain, in the new chassis, completed 80 laps with a best time of 1:19.09s, which was just 2.5s off Michael Schumacher's Bridgestone-best time at the track.

After completing his longest drive in an F1 car, Narain said, "I did 80 laps today which is the most I ever did in one day in a Formula 1 car. It was pretty exciting. But I also understand that I have to learn very much in a very short time. And I am prepared for it."

Jordan sporting director Trevor Carlin too was pleased with the first day here.

"It was the first day of our full test programme and we did very well. In the next couple of days we want to do as many miles as possible to better understand the interaction of chassis, Toyota engine and Bridgestone tyres," he said. "Obviously we have a lot of work still ahead but I am very confident that we will improve dramatically," he added.

Unofficial times: 1. F. Alonso (Renault) 1:14.99s; 2. J. Montoya (McLaren) 1:15.22; 3. R. Zonta (Toyota) 1:15.37; 4. K. Raikkonen (McLaren) 1:15.40; 5. G. Fisichella (Renault) 1:15.64; 6. D. Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:15.71; 7. V. Liuzzi (Red Bull) 1:16.14; 8. M. Webber (Williams) 1:16.50; 9. J. Trulli (Toyota) 1:16.55; 10. M. Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:16.63; 11. A. Pizzonia (Williams) 1:16.72; 12. N. Karthikeyan (Jordan) 1:19.09; 13. T. Monteiro (Jordan) 1:22.07. — UNI, PTI

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