A1 Team India is set to put its A1 car through its paces in France at the Paul Ricard Circuit on August 24th and 25th. The drivers in the team are Karun Chandhok, 21, of Chennai and Anwar Ebrahim, 16.
Karun was slapped with a 3 race ban for unsafe driving in the British racing series he is currently participating in. It is reported that he might not get to race just yet for A1 Team India until he gets himself an Indian Drivers' Licence. How lame is that?
Yo,
Regards Karun, I just mailed the TEXT BELOW to info@mai.co.in
the site for MAI ... I don't know how to get it to all the Indian papers or other interested parties, but feel free to post and linka nd copy and mail it to anyone ... or write your own ... I can't believe these idiots would eliminate one of the best drivers in the first season!
To answer uyour question it's REALLY F*CKING LAME!
Sirs:
That Karun Chandhok should be disqualified for racing for India because he currently holds a British licence to allow him to race in Europe, only typifies and cements a negative impression of Indian culture perceived by the world at large during what could be a critical opportunity to remake our image as Indians.
This is an immensely expansive, brand new international sport in which everyone starts at the same place; more than in any other racing sport with the same chance of victory. It is meant to allow countries to come together as nations competing to prove their mettle as drivers,
mechanics and managers. That MAI should publicly humiliate the Indian Team's progress in this way is HYPER-beureaucratic and myopic to the point of stupidity. It makes India look silly.
These are closed tracks! For professional racers! The licence itself is an immaterial issue. It is totally outrageous to me that such an idiotic bureaucratic issue should be playing a role in the inaugural season of an International Sport meant to create global camaraderie and promote not only India's finest talents, but India's technical, mechanical and managerial skills as well. Karun is an Indian and has raced as an Indian surrounded by Indians with pride for several years now.
If - as a couple of the papers are implying - personal issues are at play in this, it is even more pathetic and senseless. Egotism and personal vendettas of the bloated narcissists of racing years past have no place playing out on this clean slate of international proportions
that A1 presents. This childish behavior again taints India's image and reduces our great culture.
It's not as though Chandhok is a Brazilian futbol star vying to play in the Italian leagues, or a Japanese wanting to play baseball in the US.
He's an INDIAN trying to race FOR INDIA. The country and its culture should be supporting him in this endeavor.
I find this barrier to his participation pathetic and idiotic and it makes me so mad.
With other key Indian drivers committing to their pursuits in F1, younger Indians must be recruited and harvested to participate in A1.
Team India for the inaugural season of A1 thus faces a truly earnest situation: Karun Chandhok is a needed driver. He is an Indian driver. He is a far more than qualified driver. And idiots with licensing issues stand in his way.
Please see to it that he is allowed to drive in the entire season.
Let it go, already. Move on! Grow up!
Respectfully,
Rajagopal Balasubramaniam