DUBAI, 8th Jan 2009 : Karun Chandhok has been invited to drive in the 2009 24hr Dubai Endurance Race to be held at the Dubai Autodrome this weekend. The race starts at 2pm on Friday the 9th of January and runs until 2pm on Saturday. The Indian racing ace has been called in to strengthen the Empire Motorsport Team’s driving lineup in the only factory-supported Lotus 211 in the race. With a total of 88 cars across 7 different categories entered, the Dubai 24 hour race is turning into a highly prestigious and popular event for the world of endurance racing.

Lotus Sport UK will bring the expertise of a chassis and calibration engineers together with a senior race engineer. "The involvement and support from Lotus Sport UK has brought the team to a new level of competitiveness as their technical and engineering expertise has strengthened the team's performance.", said Ashraff Dewal, Team principal.

Empire Motorsports’ driver Denis Lian who has known Karun since they competed together in 2001, when the Indian became the Formula Asia Champion, had asked Karun if he was keen to race with the team. “I’ve never done an endurance race before and since there was no clash with any of my other plans for 2009, I agreed to join the team. I think it’s good for a driver to use the off-season to try new things and the Lotus name carries so much history with it which makes the drive more interesting and attractive!” said Karun who’s recent career has involved wins in the GP2 series and testing with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 Team.