Narain Karthikeyan will get two more outings at the wheel of the HRT prior to his race return in his native India late this month.
After losing his full-time race seat to Daniel Ricciardo three months ago, the 34-year-old’s sponsors have secured a one-race return for the Indian to contest his country’s inaugural grand prix.
The Spanish team announced at the weekend that, after his run in Vitantonio Liuzzi’s car for initial Friday practice in Singapore recently, Karthikeyan will return to action on the first day of this weekend’s Japanese grand prix at Suzuka.
HRT said the outing, with Karthikeyan once again in Liuzzi’s car, is to “continue with his preparation” ahead of India on October 30.
Karthikeyan told the Times of India he is happy with his re-acclimatisation to the Cosworth-powered F111.
“I was just 1 tenth slower than Ricciardo during Friday practice (in Singapore),” he said. “That is great considering I was away from the cockpit for a while.
“I will again be doing Friday runs in Japan and Korea before racing in India and I am sure of getting enough track time to be ready for the big show,” added Karthikeyan.
Source:GMM
