TEAM REPORT : FV6A Zhuhai : Karun Chandhok

Karun Chandhok headÕs to Zhuhai in China this weekend with an 8 point lead in the Championship over Indonesian Ananda Mikola, with Bahraini Hamad Al Fardan 18 points behind and New ZealandÕs Matt Halliday down in 4th place, 28 points behind Karun.

Due to a cancellation of a previous round, the teams and drivers will be facing a hard weekend with 4 races instead of just 2 which will mean double the effort and double the pressure in this Championship decider. There will be two races held on Saturday and two on Sunday to end this inaugural season of the Asian Formula Renault V6 series.

Speaking about the challenges of the weekend ahead, Karun said, ÒThis will be the first time since my Formula Maruti days that IÕve done 4 races in a weekend ! ItÕll be a tough weekend for the cars and without doubt, everyone is going to have reliability concerns so luck will also play a part. I have had two mechanical problems already this year, which my rivals havenÕt so hopefully weÕve finished our bad luck for the season !Ó

Thus far, out of the 8 races, Karun has won 4 and started from pole position 5 times. This included a double victory last time out here in Zhuhai, but heÕs not taking anything for granted in the build up to this crucial weekend, ÒWe had a good run last time here in Zhuhai to take a double victory but that was ten weeks ago and in those ten weeks both Ananda and Halliday have been competing and running at the front in A1 Grand Prix so they have been race active whereas IÕve had a long period out of a competitive race car. Still, IÕm quite confident that we have the pace to fight for victory and this is really going to be a very interesting weekend because there are 5 drivers who I can honestly say have a capability to win the races and at least 4 of us who can probably win the Championship.Ó

One of KarunÕs sponsors, Scottish and Newcastle, the international partners of the Vijay Mallaya headed UB Group are lending their support this weekend with a large contingent of Chinese dealers, distributors and contest winners making their way to Zhuhai to support their driver. S&N and Amaron along with KarunÕs long term primary sponsor JK Tyre have been instrumental in the 22 year oldÕs campaign this season.

In conclusion, the Madras born driver said, ÒTo win the Championship this weekend will be a real honour for me as itÕs the first ever Formula V6 Asia by Renault Championship. I really didnÕt have a very good year on and off the track with all the politics in 2005 but this season weÕve had a good team, good sponsors and a great battle with some top quality drivers. ItÕs been very difficult to fight back after the mechanical failures early on in this season which cost us an additional 25 points and I just hope that we donÕt regret those problems on Sunday evening.Ó

Prepared by karunchandhok.com