Karun's aim is to become F1 driver by 2009

Chennai, Jun 13 (UNI) India's racing champion and currently competing in the GP2 category in the international arena, Karun Chandok today said he was hoping to become india's second F1 driver by 2009, after Narain Karthikeyan.

Interacting with newspersons after launching his online diary, www.indiaautomobile.com/karun, here, as the brand ambassador of 'India Automobile', Karun said ''it's too early to say whether this could be so in reality, but I am on the right path racing in the GPs series.'' Karun said the sport was unpredictable. ''You don't know what will happen two years down.'' However, trying to become an F1 driver by 2009 was a realistic aim, Karun said.

Karun also clarified that contrary to widely held belief, GP2 was not a short cut to make it to F1, but the logical step. ''GP2 is now three years old. In two years time nine drivers from there have moved on to F1'', he pointed out.

Karun said participating in GP2 was the right opportunity for him to graduate to F1 and emulate Narain.'' Great Britain's Lewis Hamilton, the current young talent, who won his first F1 race in the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday, was a GP2 series winner'', Karun also observed.

Asked about the nuances of racing he has been learning, Karun said pacing a race was the biggest aspect he was learning in the GP2 races and matching the other drivers was another key aspect.

Karun, son of India's F3 driver, started his motoracing career at the age of six as a Gokarter and shot into limelight winning the 2000 national road racing championship, becoming the youngest ever Asian Formula champion in 2001 winning the 'Most promising Asian driver of the year' award and the first driver to represent India in A1 Grand Prix and also becoming the first ever Asian Formula Renault V6 championship.

UNI