Narain fourth despite crash

The home of British Grand Prix and the famous Formula 1 circuit Silverstone witnessed a spectacular racing accident for India's racing star and future Formula 1 test driver Narain Karthikeyan. The Indian ace had to retire from the race.

In what was a big crash, the Indian ace was airborne at ten feet above the tarmac, before he crash-landed against the tyre barrier at the Becketts corner.

The Indian, starting fourth on the grid, gave his Kingfisher, Ford, J K Tyre, Mobil, Sify.Com and Tata branded Stewart Racing Dallara, an excellent start. Narain, who started behind Briton, Matt Davies (Promatecme, Renault), had overwhelmed the latter to be in third place, by the end of the very first lap.

By the start of the second lap the Indian ace was in hot pursuit of pole sitter Andy Priaulx (Promatecme, Renault) and Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport, Honda). Misfortune struck at the Becketts, in the second lap in the form of Matt Davies. While attempting to pass Davies, Narain was shunted from the inside, resulting in a spectacular shunt which took both of them out.

Both the cars were no longer race-worthy, forcing Narain and Davies to retire from the race. Narain and Davies are safe and without injury.

Takuma Sato, the Japanese ace won the final round of the Green Flag British F3 Championship at Silverstone on Sunday. The Japanese ace got a great start and squeezed ahead of pole position starter Andy Priaulx on the run to the first corner. Once ahead, Sato swept clear of the pack to take a dominant win, extending his winning margin to more than 10 seconds at the flag.

"This is my fourth win and everything was relaxed," said Sato after the race.

Results:

Race Day: 1. Takuma Sato - Dallara F300 - Carlin Motorsport - 31m11.567s; 2. Andy Priaulx - Dallara F300 - Promatecme - 31m22.345s; 3. Tomas Scheckter - Dallara F300 - Stewart Racing - 31m22.771s.

Silvertstone- Qualifiers: Earlier on Saturday, Narain qualified second in the first of the qualifiers. Both the qualifiers were conducted in miserable weather. By the end of the afternoon session the Indian star had clinched fourth position on the grid, with Brazilian prodigy and Formula 1 Benetton test driver, for the season of 2001, Antonio Pizzonia behind him in fifth.

With Silverstone being a Renault favouring circuit, Andy Priaulx took a first-ever pole position for the final round of the Green Flag British F3 Championship at Silverstone.

In an enthralling session on a drying track, Guernseyman Priaulx topped the times early on before other drivers went faster. By the end of the session, Priaulx was back on top and delighted with the result.

"That has been so long in coming but it feels brilliant. I have worked so hard for it all season and I am just delighted that I have achieved a pole position. All I have to do now is keep ahead for 30 minutes in the race."

Second fastest was Takuma Sato in the Carlin Motorsport-run Dallara with Priaulx’s team-mate Matt Davies third ahead of India’s Narain Karthikeyan.

This year’s champion Antonio Pizzonia was fifth fastest behind Narain Karthikeyan.

The racing prodigy from India finishes fourth in the championship with an aggregate of 100 points. The competition of 2000 involved a star studded 30-car strong grid from 16 different nations.

Narain enjoyed five podium finishes and a win (at the famous Formula 1 circuit, Spa Francorchamps in Belgium). With this performance, the Indian has become the most successful non-Japanese Asian in the motor racing world.

The Indian ace has been invited to race in the prestigious Macau World Cup to be held in November.