Karun Chandhok

Infobox racing driver
name = Karun Chandhok


pixels =
caption =
nationality = flagicon|India Indian
date of birth = Birth date and age|1984|01|19
place of birth = Madras (India)
date of death =
retired =
related to =
current series = GP2 Series
first year = 2007
current team = iSport International
car number = 1
former teams = Durango
starts = 40
wins = 2
poles = 0
fastest laps = 2
best finish = 10th
year = 2008
prev series = Formula Asia
British F3 Championship
World Series by Renault
Formula Asia V6 by Renault
prev series years = 2001
2002-2004
2005
2006
titles = Formula Asia
Formula Asia V6 by Renault
title years = 2001
2006
awards =
award years =

Karun Chandhok (born January 19, 1984 in Madras) is a racing driver from India. He currently drives for the iSport International in the GP2 Series. Chandhok's first win in GP2 came in the sprint race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium during the 2007 season for the Durango team. Chandhok also led the sprint race in Turkey after starting from pole, only for the second place Kazuki Nakajima of DAMS to collide with him. The collision resulted in retirement for Chandhok while Nakajima was given a drive-through penalty. He also won a race at the Hockenheimring in 2008. Prior to his time in GP2, Chandhok won the Formula Asia championship in 2001 and was the inaugural Formula Asia V6 by Renault champion in 2006.

Career Highlights

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

2006

Historic champion of the first ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship. 7 race wins and 9 pole positions from 12 races.

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 improved during the season, and finished in the top 8 at three feature races. He took his first victory at Spa-Francorchamps sprint race from second on the grid.He was awarded a test with the Red Bull Racing team in November for his performances in GP2 [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41241]

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. [http://www.karunchandhok.com/Newslist/nws23.htm]

2008

Chandhok has remained in GP2 for 2008, switching to the iSport International team where he will be partnered by Bruno Senna. [cite news| title =Chandhok and Senna sign for iSport
publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64436| date =2007-12-19| accessdate =2007-12-19] He won one race and finished tenth in the drivers' championship. He also drove for the team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season. After winning one race and finishing tenth in the championship, Chandhok was presented with the series' "Best Driving Style" award at the end of the season. [cite news| title =Chandhok wins GP2 Best Driving Style award| publisher =ndtv.com| url =http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showsports.aspx?id=SPOEN20080065497| date =2008-09-15| accessdate =2008-09-27]

Racing record

Complete GP2 Series results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* [http://www.karunchandhok.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.indiaautomobile.com/karun Official Blog of Karun Chandhok]