The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Chandhok's fate hangs in the balance

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Friday, Sep 16, 2005

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Chandhok's fate hangs in the balance

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: Armaan Ebrahim might become the first Indian to race for the A1 Team India in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, Great Britain 10 days from now, should the ruling in a race license conflict between the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and A1 Grand Prix go against Karun Chandhok. There's also endorsements-related issue Chandhok and A1 Team India have to resolve by Saturday morning. The first of the 12-event A1 Grand Prix starts on September 25 and the Al Team India has scheduled a test run of 150 laps for Chandhok and Ebrahim at Silverstone on Monday (September 19).

The Al Team India manager, Akbar Ebrahim (father of Armaan), is very anxious these days. "I have managed to sleep for just an hour since Wednesday. The FIA and AI Grand Prix lawyers are fighting it out. Well, Chandhok has a British race license. What this means is that he can take part in the event with Great Britain's flag on his car and the British national anthem would have to be played. But Al Grand Prix was borne out of the Country versus Country theme and as such he will be representing India in the Grand Prix. Drivers of Pakistan, Ireland and a few more countries are facing similar problems,'' said Ebrahim during the send off party for A1 Team India on Thursday. The license and endorsements issues have prevented Chandhok from signing the initial contract with A1 Team India for the first two races. Ebrahim said should the FIA ruling go against Chandhok, Chennai-born driver Parthiv Sureshwaran would be the second race driver from India.

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