Motor sport had a certain tryst with India in 2007.
Outside of the seat-edge thrill of the championship race between Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, India, a massive country with little stake in Formula One, began to find its feet in the speed business.
And who better than the fastest Indian on wheels to firmly hold it!
Coimbatore's Narain Karthikeyan, left, made a historic drive at the Zhuhai international circuit in China, flying the Indian car to its first A1 Grand Prix victory. The Indian driver had given up the test spot with the Williams F1 team to shape India's fortunes in A1 and he once again emerged a winner.
While Karthikeyan bid good-bye to F1 for the time being, Karun Chandhok has his first taste of it. The 23 year old from Chennai was called up for a test session with Red Bull Racing and drove alongside the likes of Michael Schumacher and David Coutlhard during the weekend at Circuito de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Chandhok was rewarded for his impressive performances in the GP2 series. The former Asian champion won the sprint race at the challenging Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium with Durango Corse. The victory earned him praise from F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who has tipped Chandhok to follow Karthikeyan's steps into motor sports' biggest competition.
To complement Karthikeyan and Chandhok's success on track, progress also brewed in the Indian paddocks.
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Flamboyant businessman Vijay Mallya bought over the Spyker team and renamed it Force India. Though the car hasn't received flattering reviews, Mallya is determined to put out a competent team for the coming season.
India's promise as one of the biggest markets bore testimony as Ecclestone made sure that the country stages a Grand Prix by 2010. Formula One signed a 10-year deal with Indian company JP to build a race track in Greater Noida in a bid to bring the first race to India.
Photographs: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images and Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Also read: Narain Karthikeyan
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