Analysis: World's Fastest Indian Fulfils his Dream

When boys his age were getting hooked on fast cars on their video games, India's Narain Karthikeyan was out there doing the real thing.

The Madras-born Karthikeyan, 28, dubbed the "Fastest Indian in the World", has rubbed shoulders with the best drivers in Europe since he was a teenager.

However, his rollercoaster ride of successes and bitter lows took its most significant turn on Tuesday when he secured an offer to drive for Jordan in the 2005 Formula One season.

The news finally answers the one question that has haunted Indian fans over the last few years: "Will he, or won't he?"

Son of former national rally champion G.R. Karthikeyan, he has previously missed out on a Formula One drive despite coming agonisingly close since he first tested for Jaguar in 2001.

He also test-drove for Jordan and actually got an offer from Minardi in 2003 but failed to generate the huge sum required to secure the offer. This time, his sponsors says, there will be no such problem.

Though he was written off as a could-have-been by fans and racing pundits after the Minardi miss, Karthikeyan did not give up hope and said he would still pursue his Formula One dream.

He emerged as a strong contender last week after Trevor Carlin, his former team owner on the Formula Three series, took over as sporting director at Jordan, now owned by Russian-born millionaire Alex Shnaider's Midland group.

Karthikeyan had scored Carlin Motorsport's first Formula Three wins and has built his reputation over the years as a fast, but erratic, driver with a special flair on wet tracks.

Love Affair

His love affair with cars started as a toddler watching his father string victories together on India's competitive rally circuit. Coming from a business family in the southern industrial city of Coimbatore, which has produced several rally drivers, further encouraged him to take up the sport.

He joined the Winfield Racing School in France, which has produced former World Champions such as Alain Prost and Damon Hill, in his early teens. At 15, he was one of the finalists in the Pilote Elf Competition for Formula Renault cars.

He won the Formula Asia title in 1996 and had a successful run on the British Formula Three circuit, where his long association with Carlin began.

Karthikeyan has Grands Prix wins in the junior formula on tracks such as Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.

The softly spoken driver, whose mild demeanour often belies his steely resolve, perfectly fits the commercial profile of Formula One with Bernie Ecclestone determined to exploit growing interest for the sport in the sub-continent.

Few sports can compete with cricket in India but live coverage of Formula One races has generated huge revenues for TV channels in urban centres, where World Champion Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya are the new youth icons.

Ecclestone had initiated steps to stage a Grand Prix in the southern Hyderabad city as early as 2007, until a change in the regional government applied the brakes to the plan.

However, Karthikeyan's entry into the top echelons of the sport should quickly revive interest in India.