The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Running into trouble

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 20, 2005

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Running into trouble

CHENNAI: It is unlikely that Narain Karthikeyan will ever be cautioned for a driving offence when he's behind the wheel of an F1 car on the circuit; but things could be absurdly different though, when he's riding a scooter.

The 28-year-old was accosted by cops on Wednesday after doing a lap on Monaco's street circuit on a scooter, at a time when a portion of the track was shut for traffic.

"The cops weren't very happy," Narain said, grinning after returning to the Jordan garage. "They wanted my license, so I gave them my Indian racing license."

Narain is relatively unknown in Europe; and unlike several other drivers who live in the tax-haven that is Monaco, he prefers to live near Jordan's Silverstone factory in England. Narain, who has never been to the Mediterranean principality before, says he finds Monaco too `busy,' and that he prefers living in England.

Narain might not have raced at Monaco before, but he thinks the race will turn out fine. He hopes to draw from his experiences on other street-circuits like Macau and Korea. "I've seen the layout on TV for so many years, so you really know where it's going," he said. "But it's the finer points; the hill looks so much steeper than on TV."

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