VOL.2007.119
Date : 30 Oct 2007

Indian School Students Meet Their Hero
Narain Karthikeyan

29 October 2007

Indian motorsport legend Narain Karthikeyan landed in Bahrain on Monday morning and was taken straight from the airport to a function with over two thousand school children at the Indian School in Isa Town. Karthikeyan who is no stranger to Bahrain, having raced here in the 2005 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for the Jordan team, was a huge hit with the children who had turned out in force to welcome their favourite sporting star to the Kingdom.

Karthikeyan will be driving this weekend in the new Speedcar series that is part of a bumper festival of motor racing at the BIC in conjunction with the Desert 400 V8 Supercar Championship. He will be joined in Friday and Saturday’s events by other legendary Grand Prix starts including Jean Alesi, who raced in over 200 Grands Prix for Ferrari and Benetton, Johnny Herbert a two times Grand Prix winner of the German and British Grands Prix and the winner of the demanding Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race and Stefan Johansson another former Ferrari and McLaren driver who has also won at Le Mans and has spent the last ten years racing in the States.

The brand new Speedcar series is a concept that will run at other Grands Prix circuits in 2008, including the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, and will see grids of 20 plus drivers driving cars that are very similar to the rumbling V8 racers that contest the American NASCAR series. The Speedcars will be on track all three days of the Desert 400 weekend and will be some of the largest and noisiest cars ever to have raced at the BIC.

During his visit to the school Narain spoke to the assembled children and answered their questions about the weekend’s events and was able to sign autographs. He was joined by Indian Ambassador to Bahrain. Speaking of his participation in the forthcoming weekend’s event Narain said, “I am really happy to be back in Bahrain where I have enjoyed some great racing and some amazing support from so many people. It was great to be back with the school children again and it is wonderful to see how much support motorsport is getting in the country. I am looking forward to seeing many of today’s crowd down at the track on Friday and Saturday and looking forward to the support that they will give me”.

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