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Unus Alladin

Narain Karthikeyan says he has some unfinished business to complete as he lines up in this weekend's Macau Grand Prix looking to banish the bitter memories of two years ago.

India's top racing driver won't be forgetting the 2000 blue riband race, when his hopes of gaining a possible Formula One drive were shattered on the narrow streets of the former Portuguese colony.

Karthikeyan had set the lap record in qualifying and was about four seconds ahead of the field during the race before driving over a bump and crashing out in the 3.8-mile Guia circuit.

'I'll never forget that crash for the rest of my life. If I had stayed in the lead and won that race, I might have been a Formula One driver by now,' said Karthikeyan, who will drive a Dallara F302 Honda-Mugen car in Macau.

Karthikeyan's Carlin Motorsport team partner on that fateful day was current Jordan Formula One driver Takuma Sato of Japan, who secured the Macau title last year as a contracted F1 driver.

Macau is seen as a stepping stone for future Formula One drivers, with names such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher having graduated from the twisting street circuit.

'I am back in the race two years after that crash with memories of that race still fresh on my mind. This might be my last chance of winning in Macau. I don't know whether I will be coming back here again,' said Karthikeyan.

The 26-year-old Madras-born driver has been racing in the Nissan World Series circuit this year, competing in South America and Europe for the TATA RC Motorsport team. That means he is coming from racing in bigger and more powerful cars.

'It will not be easy to make the transition because I am jumping into a smaller and less powerful machine. You tend to overdrive a bit and it will take some getting used to. I just have to be a bit more careful because the last thing I want to do is put my car into another wall.'

'The Macau Grand Prix is probably the biggest race in Asia after the Formula One races in Suzuka and Sepang [Malaysia]. Everybody wants to win here. It's good for the sport and good for the driver. I am going to go for it again and this time I am praying for more luck,' he said.

Karthikeyan is driving for top British Formula Three team Carlin Motorsport in Macau, partnering James Courtney, this year's runner-up in the British Formula Three Championship. The third driver in the Carlin team is South Africa's Alan van der Merwe, who like Courtney is making his Macau debut.

'I am confident of doing well here. I expect a podium finish. Whether I win the race is another matter because in Macau, you need lots of luck,' said the Indian driver, who had test drives with Formula One teams Jaguar and Jordan in 2001.

Karthikeyan found the transition to Formula Three machinery not so smooth yesterday, when he was fourth fastest in free practice despite brushing the barriers several times as he discovered the limits of his car.

'That session was so, so,' he said. 'I think I brushed the barriers three times and got very, very close to the wall at Lisboa on my last lap. I think it is more a case of me getting back used to it.'

Karthikeyan was seventh in yesterday's first qualifying session behind Japanese Kousuke Matsuura, who grabbed provisional pole position for the Formula Three race on his flying lap in the final minute of the session. Matsuura, who drives for Prema Powerteam, did not let a brief red flag session affect his concentration as he completed his fastest lap in two minutes, 15.768 seconds.

The session was stopped with less than 13 minutes remaining following two unconnected accidents. Local driver Lei Kit Meng badly damaged his car after hitting the barriers backwards, while Van der Merwe put his car sidewards into the Armco. Another Japanese, Yuji Ide was second fastest, 0.818 seconds behind his compatriot, while Courtney was third fastest, less than sixth hundreds of a second further adrift.

Courtney, who finished runner-up in this year's British Formula Three championship, said: 'I was really starting to push towards the end. I had been fairly quick all day, but I didn't really want to go off so I wasn't taking any risks. But the red flag session really helped because it allowed me to make an improvement to my set-up and that really helped.'

Italian Paolo Montin, who had been quickest in practice, had no complaints despite ending up fourth. 'I didn't use any new tyres so I could save them for final qualifying. I am pretty happy,' he said.

British Formula Three champion Robbie Kerr had a disastrous first day to finish 15th fastest after crashing into the barriers at Fisherman's Bend in practice. The 23-year-old Englishman came back in the qualifying session to post a time that was 4.843 seconds slower than Matsuura.

Meanwhile, Dutchman Duncan Huisman secured provisional pole position for Sunday's SJM Guia race, snatching the top spot from Japan's Nobuteru Taniguchi with 15 minutes of qualifying to go.

German Franz Engstler was third fastest despite being involved in an accident that caused the red flag to be brought out with 10 minutes of qualifying remaining. Engstler hit local driver Cheong Chong Hoi up the back at the exit of the Dona Maria corner and pushed the Honda driver into the barriers. Both drivers were unhurt.

Local hero Andre Couto was fourth fastest ahead of BMW teammate Jorg Muller, while Formula One driver Anthony Davidson finished 12th fastest - more than five seconds slower than the provisional pole position time.

Yesterday's sports pages contained an article about Andre Couto which was incorrectly attributed. The actual writer of the piece was Matthew Marsh.

Graphic: PRIXMBGST



Karthikeyan returns to put crash behind him