HRT has confirmed Narain Karthikeyan will race at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix at the end of October.
Earlier this month India-based Hero Motors revealed it would be sponsoring Karthikeyan at the event but the team would not comment on whether he had secured a place.
However, on Saturday HRT issued a press release confirming Karthikeyan's place on the grid in India, a deal which has apparently been in place since he lost his drive to Daniel Ricciardo at the British Grand Prix earlier this year. In preparation for his return, Karthiekyan will take part in Friday practice at next weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.
"It is great to have Narain back in the car as it will give him critical seat time before he drives at the Indian GP," team principal Colin Kolles said. "He is the best driver to come out of the region and is undoubtedly extremely talented as he has proved through his progress this season".
Karthikeyan added: "Of course it's a great feeling to be driving on a grand prix weekend once again, and on the subject of my home prand prix of India, the team had assured me that I'd be driving when I stepped out of my seat after the European GP.
"The Singapore circuit will definitely be a challenge as it is new to me so I'll have to get to grips with it fairly quickly. From what I know, it is a very demanding race physically, not only because of the temperatures and humidity but also being a high-speed street circuit it is extremely bumpy. Like any other street circuit, grip builds up through the weekend and car-setup will have to be constantly evolved to get the best out of it.
"Overall, it is a great place to return to race proceedings, and will go a long way to get me back in the rhythm for the Indian GP. Also my sincere thanks to my ever faithful sponsor the Tata Group, and recent support from both Hero Motors and Base batteries".
The team did not confirm whether Karthikeyan would replace Ricciardo or Tonio Liuzzi in India, although it is likely to be Ricciardo as Liuzzi's manager Enrico Zanarini told ESPNF1 earlier this month: "We have a contract with HRT which includes all races, no exception."
Meanwhile, HRT has told ESPNF1 that technical director Geoff Willis "is still rendering his services to the team", amid reports he the outfit earlier this week. However, ESPNF1 understands that work on next year's car is being headed up by Jorg Zander instead, who has worked on the design teams for Toyota, BAR, Williams, BMW, Honda and Brawn.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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