Ace GP2 driver Karun Chandhok has joined new Portuguese outfit Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) — headed by former Formula One driver Tiago Monteiro — for the year 2009.
Chandhok’s move to an entirely new team may come as a surprise to many, but the Chennai-born driver, who switched from the well-known Isport International team, insisted that in the present circumstances he opted for a bit of “gamble.”
“Of course, it’s not going to be easy. But that was the best option in front of me. Any new team will take time to produce results and it is highly unrealistic to think we are going to be the championship contenders. However, the objective is to win races this year,” Chandhok said while announcing his alignment with ORT on Tuesday.
“It would be a challenge for me to go out and develop a new team,” he added.
Chandhok, who won the race at Hockenheim and finished 10th in the GP2 championship last year, said he could not reach at a “suitable financial agreement with Isport” and hence had to part ways. “My experience with them will certainly benefit as I learnt a few things from them,” he remarked.
“It is very important for Ocean Racing Technology to guarantee the presence of a talented driver such as Karun Chandhok. He is fast, a hard worker and already has some great results on different kinds of tracks. From what we hear, he always had an excellent working relationship with engineers and team principals that he has previously worked with and has won two races in the GP2 Main Series. It is extremely positive that he signed this contract well before the championship starts because this way we can immediately begin work for the Main Series.
For us, it is important that an experienced and fast driver like Karun puts his confidence in Ocean Racing Technology, which is a very young team. He is the driver we need to achieve our goals, which are to be competitive right away and consistently into the points,” Tiago Monteiro said.
In 2007 Karun Chandhok triumphed in Spa, one of the most demanding circuits of the season, in just his first year in the championship with the Italian Durango team. In 2008 he raced with iSport International where he established himself as a front-runner with several good races, the highlight being victory at Hockenheim. He also received a distinction at the end of the year for the “Best driving style” voted by the fans of the series. Previous to that, Karun became the 2006 Asian Renault V6 Champion and was also at the front in British Formula 3 after becoming the Formula Asia Champion in 2001.
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