Chennai: Narain Karthikeyan has been named one of the potential drivers for the inaugural FIA Formula E championship, which is scheduled to start in September this year. The new global electric racing series announced seven other drivers on Monday bringing the total to 16 in Drivers’ Club. Another Indian, Karun Chandhok, is already among the pool of racers and he has a bright chance to become the lead driver of Mahindra, the only Indian team in the championship, during the Delhi Auto Show in the second week of February.
Narain will compete in Japan’s Super Formula in the regular season and his participation in Formula E, a winter series, is not confirmed yet even though he figures in the pool.
Formula E management will release more names in the coming weeks and India’s Armaan Ebrahim is said to be in the mix.
The Formula E Drivers’ Club will allow each member to experience the new fully-electric Spark-Renault SRT_01E Formula E car which recently made its public debut driving along the iconic Las Vegas Strip.
“The series is breaking new ground by taking the sport to fans in an unprecedented way across the world. I am happy to be named as a part of the Drivers’ Club and looking forward to the experience,” Narain was quoted as saying on the Formula E website.
Drivers’ Club: Narain Karthikeyan (Ind), Karun Chandhok (Ind), Daniel Abt (Ger), Christijan Albers (Dut), Marco Andretti (USA), Sébastien Bourdais (Fra), Sebastien Buemi (Ger), Lucas di Grassi (Bra), J.R. Hildebrand (USA), Ma Qing Hua (China), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita), Franck Montagny (Fra), Takuma Sato (Jpn), Bruno Senna (Bra), Oriol Servia (Esp), Adrien Tambay (Fra).
