Jaguar, the Indian owned British car manufacturer that quit Formula 1 in 2004, announced few days ago that they would join the third season (2016/17) of the innovative Formula E series as a manufacturer with its own team.
The news is exciting – for Motorsport fans to see yet another car manufacturer re-enter the industry and for Formula E, who can boast of increased interest from global brands in a very short span of time.
Formula One Has Given Formula E A Chance
As Jaguar Formula E Team put together their operations and plans for their debut next year, I wonder if Narain Karthikeyan could be on his way to be appointed as a racer with them.
The first Indian to race in Formula 1 hasn’t yet driven in the all-electric series – although there was talk of him joining Mahindra Racing (the Indian Formula E team) for the current season. But conflict of interest between Mahindra and TATA (Narain’s personal sponsors since a decade) meant that the union couldn’t happen.
The TATA Group’s backing of Narain Karthikeyan has been next to none. They’ve backed the Indian racer since the early 2000s and were instrumental in helping him secure his debut Formula 1 season with the Joran F1 Team. TATA has stuck with Narain even post his not-so-illustrious career in F1. They’re supporting him as he races in a relatively unknown series in Japan, so a Formula E partnership will only be more worthy.
For those who love history, Narain’s first ever Formula 1 test was with the Jaguar Racing team (now Red Bull Racing) before he went on to race for Jordan and HRT. It would be a reunion of sorts should they come together for Formula E too.
Amen!
PS: Not that it matters, but he drives and endorses Jaguar in India.
I have written many posts on Narain, his Formula 1 career and his unbreakable relationship with the TATA Group. If you’re interested, you could read
- ‘Did TATA invest a little too late in Narain Karthikeyan’s racing career?’
- Narain, TATA And Formula One
And you could tune in to the latest episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast ‘Motor-mouth Hamilton‘ to enjoy more than a few laughs!
