Indian single-seater veteran Narain Karthikeyan has joined the ranks of Zele Racing, partnering Luciano Bacheta during round one of the 2013 Auto GP season at Monza.
Over his lengthy international career that spans all the way back to 1992, Karthikeyan, 36, has been a race winner in British F3, Superleague Formula, A1 Grand Prix and other noteable single-seater categories. He’s made his F1 debut in 2005 with Jordan, scoring his only career points in the infamous 2005 US Grand Prix. Spending two years as the reserve driver for Williams, Karthikeyan returned to F1 in 2011, joining HRT, with which he spent almost two full years.
“I was looking forward to continuing my Formula 1 career in 2013 with HRT,” said Karthikeyan. “Unfortunately circumstances within the team lead to it shutting down. I have decided to accept the invitation from Michael Zele, as it keeps me driving a high-powered single-seater, and with a heavily-revised car for 2013, lap times are said to be on par with other single-seater series. I’ve worked with Zele Racing before, and have known Michael for a long time. I’m looking forward to the first race in Monza, as it’s a track I know well.”
Meanwhile, experienced Italian Sergio Campana completed the 15-driver grid for the first round of 2012, joining Giuseppe Cipriani at Ibiza Racing Team.
Campana, 26, began his foray into single-seaters in 2007. He notably finished fifth in FR2.0 Italy a year later and then joined the now-defunct Italian F3, where he spent three years. He was fourth in his rookie year, but only managed fifth staying on for 2010. In 2011, he edged out Michael Lewis and Raffaele Marciello to the title. Last year he was sixth in Auto GP.