Karthikeyan to race for Nakajima Racing in Japan’s Super GT series

Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan will switch to Japan’s Super GT sportscar series this season, driving for the Honda-backed Nakajima Racing team in the GT500 class.

The 41-year-old, who competed for the same squad – albeit in the single-seater Super Formula championship – last season, will drive alongside former F2 racer and Honda protégé Tadasuke Makino.

Karthikeyan, who became India’s first Formula One driver with his Grand Prix debut in 2005, tested for Nakajima last month at Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit.

He will drive the same Honda NSX-GT as 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button, who is staying on for a second season with Team Kunimitsu alongside Naoki Yamamoto, after winning the Super GT title last year.

Karthikeyan made the switch to the Super Formula series in 2014. His move to Super GT marks a switch to sportscar racing after over two decades of almost exclusively racing single-seaters.

The 2019 Super GT seasons flags off at Okayama in April.

ABHISHEK TAKLE