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Vitantonio Liuzzi will step aside in order for Narain Karthikeyan to race at his home grand prix in India next weekend, the HRT team have confirmed. The Indian driver will line-up alongside Daniel Ricciardo for the inaugural event, which may come as a surprise to the Australian who earlier admitted it would more than lilkely be him that would be replaced. Team principal, Colin Kolles, thanked Liuzzi for his 'professional approach and attitude' toward the line-up change. "For this single event, Narain will be driving alongside Daniel Ricciardo," confirmed Kolles. "I have asked Tonio Liuzzi to step aside for the Indian GP in order to allow driving programs with Ricciardo and Karthikeyan to be completed. "I have to thank Tonio for his professional approach and attitude. After the positive performance the team had in Korea, I hope that we will keep on that line in India. Although Narain has already driven around the track and given us a positive feedback, we really don't know what to expect but we are looking forward to it." http://thef1times.com/news/display/04788 relatively decent formula 1 driver....

While stressing that the time is not important, India's Narain Karthikeyan, wearing a brand new Hispania Racing suit, upped his pace to clock a best of one minute, 17.769 seconds on the second day of the pre-season Formula One testing in Valencia on Wednesday. The 34-year old Karthikeyan covered 80 laps (320.4 km) and expressed satisfaction on the progress being made at the Ricardo Tomo circuit. "We have been working through the programme. We did 80 laps, which is good. Obviously the times are not so important. We were not going for times today, just building up to it nicely. "Besides, I have tried several Pirelli compounds, and therefore I feel really satisfied. Hopefully, we will do some more work tomorrow (Thursday) in the same direction," said Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan's time on the second day, that was sixth quickest among the 15 ran timed laps, was a definite improvement as compared to his best of 1:18.0029 (45 laps) that he did Tuesday. Karthikeyan looked to be in an excellent mental and physical shape, as he went through the familiarising process with his new team. "Narain has done once again a very good job in this second day of testing. Times are not now important as we pay attention to the data we are collecting," said team principal Colin Kolles. "He has completed 80 laps, which is almost the double of what he did yesterday. I am very happy with his progress and I am sure he will keep on improving." Force India's Paul di Resta continued the team's winter testing programme, completing more than 111 laps and clocking a best of 1:13.844 that was the third fastest, behind double World champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari (1:13.307) and the 2010 winner Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull-Renault (1:13.614). "Another good day of testing for the team, gathering lots of information for the guys to work on as we prepare for the debut of the VJM04 next week," said di Resta. "At this stage, we are not going for times, just trying to get representative data to work on. I am feeling good and well integrated into the team and my new role." Source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Karthikeyan-...le1-658021.aspx

VALENCIA: Back behind the wheel of a Formula One car after a hiatus of four years, Narain Karthikeyan impressed at 2011's opening pre-season test and the ace Indian driver said he was "extremely satisfied" with his three-day outing at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo. Karthikeyan, who was signed by Spanish outfit Hispania Racing Team (HRT) for the 2011 season, completed 63 laps and finished 11th fastest on the final day of the testing with a timing of 1:16.535. The Indian set the sixth fastest time on the second day with a timing of 1:14.472 while he was the 12th fastest on the first day of the test programme. "It's an awesome feeling to be back in Formula 1 car again, pushing it to its limits. All of the team members at HRT and I have been working very hard over the past few days. Fortunately, the weather has been very good, and I was able to do quite a lot of laps on each of the three days of the test session," Karthikeyan said after the conclusion of the testing session. "This test has not been about getting lap-times. It was more important for me to learn about the team, the car, and getting used to the specific demands of Formula 1 again. I also focused on learning about the new specification tyres, and have tried out several different compounds. "I was expecting it to be much harder to adapt to the modern generation F1 car, but I found the transition to be much more seamless than I had anticipated. It has been an extremely satisfying test, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next test," he said. Hispania team principal Colin Kolles was also impressed with Karthikeyan's progress during the testing programme. "Narain (Karthikeyan) has done a very good job in this test session. The lap-times are not so important. We are paying more attention to the data we are collecting. He has completed almost 200 laps over the course of the three days," he said. "I am very happy with his progress, determination and speed. I am sure he will continue to improve each and every time he drives the car," Kolles added. Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/...how/7424667.cms