mock 0 Report post Posted January 6, 2006 (GMM) Clashing sponsors are likely to spoil Narain Karthikeyan's quest to remain on the F1 race grid. The 28-year-old, who debuted for Jordan last year but fell out with team boss Colin Kolles, is sponsored mainly by 'Tata', an Indian car maker. The company had been linked with a title sponsorship of the new Japanese 'Super Aguri' outfit, after early favourite, Tokyo-based Softbank, reportedly pulled out. It would've involved Karthikeyan at the wheel. But the 'Outlook India' publication claimed on Thursday that there is a 'conflict of interest' between Aguri and Tata -- the team's sponsor and supplier, Honda. Although the true extent of the connection between Leafield based Super Aguri and Honda is not entirely certain, the Japanese carmaker has a strong presence in India and neither it or Tata are likely to want to 'share' their F1 camp. ''Tata Motors would not want Narain to be seen driving for their rival in the Indian market,'' sources close to Karthikeyan, the first ever Indian in F1, said. Grove based Williams, however, are keeping the 'offer' of a fourth-driver testing role open for Narain, even if the coveted 'Friday' seat has already gone to Alex Wurz. Karthikeyan's manager, Piers Hunnisett, told the 'Times of India' that, as well as Williams, he also negotiated with 'three others'. He told Autosport that the ultimate objective should be to allow NK to 'keep his profile up'. Piers Hunnisett explained: ''(Then) he could be in a good position by the end of the year.'' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pumpdoc 2 Report post Posted January 7, 2006 makes sense Isn't Tata the 'Yugo' of India? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
