Narain battles in Norfolk

Snetterton in, once a busy airfield during World War II, played host to the twelfth race of the British F-3 championship 2000, featuring the Indian star Narain Karthikeyan.

Snetterton made its debut in October 1951, when the Aston Martin Owners' Club ran a race meeting.

India's Formula 3 ace drove out of the pits in warm, dry and hazy conditions on Saturday morning.

Antonio Pizzonia clinched pole position in qualifying for Sunday's race. The morning session was full of drama with more than half a dozen drivers all holding pole position at one stage.

The 30-minute qualifying session was halted at mid-point to allow the retrieval of Peter Nilson's (Scholarship Class) car after a spin.

Narain, the Kingfisher and Ford-sponsored driver, made a pit stop at this point to get into a new set of rubbers. Inspite all his efforts he clocked the tenth fastest time in a track of 23 drivers. A post qualifying session data analysis from the computers revealed that Narain's car was performing below par, resulting in him losing precious seconds on the straights and the last curve, Russel Bend. The competition was so tough that the first 13 cars were covered by just seven tenths of a second.

The second session in the afternoon was slower after a shower of rain fell early in the session. In spite of the fact that the Indian driver had used both his set of tyres in the first qualifiers he succeeded in improving his timing to qualify ninth.

Snetterton Race-Day

The battle scarred airfield converted race track, 3.12 Km long, saw a future Formula Star from India waging a valiant battle and make a good comeback.

Starting ninth on the grid, Narain managed a very good start. The Indian ace pulled out all stops to race his Kingfisher, Ford, J K Tyres, Mobil, SatyamOnline.Com and Tata branded Stewart Racing Dallara F300 past two drivers by the end of the first lap.

In lap two, Narain was forced on the grass by British driver Matthew Davies (Promatecme). Taking up the challenge, the Indian champion made a stunning move at the Russel Bend to leave Davies behind and chase Briton Michael Bentwood (Fortec) and Japanese Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport).

Narain's fierce pressure on Sato over three laps, resulted in the Carlin Motorsport driver going into a big spin. Taking advantage, Narain moved into fifth spot by the tenth lap.

The Indian icon of motor-racing skillfully staved off the challenge posed by Davies, Sato and continued to apply pressure on Michael Bentwood and Ben Collins.

At the end of the 30 minute race, he finished a creditable fifth. The JK Tyre sponsored driver was relieved after the race. Having earned eight valuable points in Snetterton, Narain is now closing in on Japanese Sato, currently in third place, leaving Italian Gianmaria Bruni (currently in fifth place), a good ten points behind, who was till the beginning of this outing, breathing down on the Indian's neck by a slender two point margin.

The prospect of Narain Karthikeyan becoming the first Indian to drive a Formula One car is imminent. This historic and proud moment in Indian and International Motorsport is expected to arrive anyday in the last week of September.

The Results: