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Narain Karthikeyan finishes Melbourne F1 race;
15th position
Before you cry - 15th is good. Narain is a rookie, his car
is not the best - and turning out a decent performance is
commendable.
6 March 2005: In his first ever Formula One race at
Albert Park, Melbourne, India's rookie driver Narain
karthikeyan turned out a decent - if unremarkable -
performance and finished at 15th place.
For the average fan of Narain, that may look bad. It is not
so.
Jordan F1, Narain's team, is a starter team. It is a place
where rookie drivers prove themselves and then move on to
race-winning teams. Today's race winner, for example.
Giancarlo Fisichella, the Melbourne GP winner, was last year's
Jordan driver. In a telling moment when the race leader's
car and Narain Karthikeyan's Jordan appeared on the
track together, the commentators could not resist talking
about its significance. Last year's Jordan driver - this
year's winner. That's what Jordan and Minardi are for.
The race was exciting alright - Narain started slow and was
overtaken before the first corner by his teammate Tiago
Monteiro. The experienced drivers line dup behind him such as
Schumacher and Takuma Sato overtook Narain in the very first
lap itself.
That is OK. Because a Jordan car cannot seriously race
against a Ferrari or McLaren. In a Jordan F1 car, the driver's
job is to compete the race and use any chances that may come
his way. Not many came Narain's way - they may come in the
future, though.
And in the end, he fared much better than the world
champion Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Michael blocked the way
of a fast approaching Nick Heidfeld in a Williams F1 who had
no choice but to bang into the Ferrari. Both went out. Even
Narain's teammate, Tiago took a spin and ceded the position to
Narain.
Overall, decent performance. Narain's driving style was not
timid - he took the car by the scruff of its neck, said a
commentator. Good. Just bide your time, Narain.
BM
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