Indian ace set for Jordan deal

Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan is close to securing a drive with Jordan in this year’s Formula One world championship.

Should the agreement go through, it would make the 28-year-old the first ever Indian to race in the series.

Jordan sporting director Trevor Carlin has revealed that the team are in talks with Karthikeyan, but a deal has not yet been finalised.

The Jordan team were taken over by the Midland Group last month and Carlin revealed that the outfit have offered Karthikeyan the seat, but he must finalise a sponsorship package before the deal can be completed.

“He’s still got to find some funds, but it’s very close. The sponsorship package seems strong,” Carlin told BBC Sport Online.

The team will launch their 2005 challenger in Moscow on February 25 and the Toyota-powered car will run as a Jordan for this season before a name change to reflect Midland’s involvement at the end of the year.

Alex Shnaider, who fronts the Russian-backed Midland Group, had planned to enter a new team into the world championship in 2006, but now finds his team involved a year early.

“We’re a year ahead of schedule. We’re using this year as a learning year and building for 2006, so we don’t want to use up next year’s budget this year,” Carlin added.

“Narain has some good sponsors. He’s pretty quick – but a bit wild as well. He’ll be quite exciting.”

The team has yet to confirm any drivers for next season, with Karthikeyan having previously raced for Carlin in British Formula Three.

Last year he raced with Tata RC Motorsport in the World Series by Nissan and has previously tested with Formula One teams Jordan, Jaguar and Minardi.