Tokyo, Jan 11 (PTI) India's first Formula One driverNarain Karthikeyan today confirmed that he will race in theJapanese Super Formula for a fifth consecutive season.
It will be the first time in the championship thatKarthikeyan will represent the same team, the Honda-poweredNakajima Racing in this case, for a consecutive year.
Toyota has dominated the championship of late butKarthikeyan said his car showed glimpses of speed in whatotherwise was a forgettable last season when he failed toscore a point for the first time in four years.
"Last season was a forgettable one to be honest. Thoughtowards the end of the year, I did feel the car was quick. Wehope to build on that and I realise that I have to be at thetop of my game. It is a super competitive championship,"Karthikeyan told PTI.
With the confirmation today, the speculation over hisswitch to Super GT 500 also ended. The 40-year-old had testedthe Super GT machinery for the first time in December when hewas joined by 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button at Malaysia'sSepang International Circuit.
Super Formula, erstwhile known as Formula Nippon, isJapan's premier single-seater series since 1973. It is alsothe fastest single-seater series outside of Formula One.
Other popular names in the field include WEC WorldChampion and Le Mans 24-hour winner Andre Lotterer, former F1drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Kazuki Nakajima.
Recently, talented young drivers like Stoffel Vandoorneand Pierre Gasly opted for Super Formula to hone their skillsbefore moving up to Formula One.
The series run on six purpose-built race tracks,including three F1-spec venues .
The 2018 season will kick off on March 11 with the pre-season testing at Suzuka Circuit and the series opener isscheduled in April. PTI BSBS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.