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Karthikeyan Explains Move from NASCAR to F1

When Hispania Racing F1 Team announced that Narain Karthikeyan will be one of their race drivers for the 2011 Formula 1 championship, some of us have obviously raised our eyebrows. And it's not only because the Indian racer has been a complete stranger from F1 action in the recent past, but also because he seemed to have pursued a new direction in NASCAR.

At 34 years of age, Karthikeyan had already made his first steps in the North American stock-car racing championship, having debuted in the truck series in 2010.

Not only he abandoned his NASCAR plans this year (and probably for the future), but the racer also signed with a team that is in desperate need of money. In fact, Karthikeyan himself admitted that he spent all his NASCAR-earned cash in order to secure his seat with HRT. In case you're looking for an explanation, here's one from the man himself.

It is true that all the money I made while racing in NASCAR I have already spent this season, but I didn't want to pass up on an F1 return because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life thinking 'what if'?” he said in an interview with the Hindustan Times.

Karthikeyan's first steps in Formula 1 have happened during the 2005 season, when the Indian driver signed a racing deal with Jordan. He became inactive as of the 2006 campaign, when he was signed by Williams as their test/reserve driver.

After leaving the Great Circus at the end of 2007, the Indian driver started doing different racing programmes, which included outings in the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsports, Le Mans 24-Hour Race, NASCAR's Truck Series and Superleague Formula.
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