Karun Chandhok
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| Karun Chandhok | |
| Nationality |  Indian |
| Date of Birth | January 19, 1984 |
| Place of Birth | Madras (India) |
| 2008 GP2 Series | |
| Debut season | 2007 |
| Current team | iSport International |
| Car No. | 1 |
| Former teams | Durango |
| Starts | 27 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 15th in 2007 |
| Previous series | |
| 2001 2002-2004 2005 2006 |
Formula Asia British F3 Championship World Series by Renault Formula Asia V6 by Renault |
| Championship titles | |
| 2001 2006 |
Formula Asia Formula Asia V6 by Renault |
Karun Chandhok (born January 19, 1984 in Madras) is a racing driver from India. He currently pilots the race car for iSport International in the GP2 series. Karun's first win in the GP2 series came in the sprint race at the challenging Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in the 2007 season With Durango team.Karun has also earlier lead the sprint race in Turkey starting from pole, before the second place Kazuki Nakajima of DAMS collided with him. The collision resulted in retirement for Chandhok while Nakajima was handed out a drive through penalty.
Karun Chandhok became the first ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Champion in October 2006.
Karun drove as the second driver for Durango Corse for the 2007 GP2 Series season, after testing for the team. The team was impressed with his speed and its engineers with his feedback and adaptability to different weather conditions after a two day test at Paul Ricard. He will stay in the series for 2008 after moving to the iSport International team.
Contents |
[edit] Career Highlights
[edit] 2000
Indian National Racing Champion with a record breaking 7 race victories. Pole position and fastest lap in all the 10 races which is still a national record.
[edit] 2001
Youngest ever Asian Formula Champion driving for "Team India Racing". First Asian to win the opening 5 races of a season and winning a record 8 races in a year. Presented with the award for the "Most promising Asian driver of the year". Tested with British Formula 3 champion team Carlin Motorsport.
[edit] 2002
6th in the British Formula 3 National class with 6 top 3 finishes in the year. Awarded Overdrive Magazine’s "Motorsport man of the year".
[edit] 2003
3rd in the British Formula 3 National class winning 8 races and scoring 19 podium finishes in 24 races with T-Sport. Becomes India’s first and only certified instructor at the prestigious Silverstone Race school at the Formula 1 venue in England.
[edit] 2004
Front runner in British Formula 3 with T-Sport and was instantly a top 5 qualifier and finisher when he partnered his compatriot Narain Karthikeyan in the World Series by Nissan for the final two rounds the year and finished 4th in his second ever outing ahead of team-mate Narain. Team captain of "Team India" at the 24 hour Dubai Karting race. First person to be awarded Overdrive Magazine’s ‘Motorsport man of the year’ for the second time.
[edit] 2005
Raced part-season in the World Series by Renault with RC Motorsport. Was the first driver to represent India in A1 Grand Prix. Signed up by the world's leading Motorsport agents, CSS-Stellar management.
[edit] 2006
Historic champion of the first ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship. 7 race wins and 9 pole positions from 12 races.
[edit] 2007
GP2 Series driver for Durango. Tipped by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone to be the next F1 driver from India and claims he is a fan of Karun's. Chandhok has improved during the season, and has been in top 8 of three feature races. He took his first victory at Spa-Francorchamps sprint race from second on the grid. He has been awarded a test with the Red Bull Racing team on the 15th of November for his performances in gp2[1]
Chandok got his biggest career break in November with a call up from the Red Bull Racing Formula One team to test for them over two days at the Circuito de Catalunya in Barcelona on the 13th and 14th of November.[2]
[edit] 2008
Chandhok will remain in GP2 for 2008, switching to the iSport International team where he will be partnered by Bruno Senna.[1] He is also driving for the team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season.
[edit] GP2 Series record
| Season | Team name | No. | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final placing | Best finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Durango | 27 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 15th | 1st |
| 2008 (Asia) | iSport International | 01 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13th | 3rd |
| 2008 | iSport International | 01 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9th* | 3rd |
* Season in progress.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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