Narain Karthikeyan bagged a third spot finish at the season’s opening race at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan on Sunday. Driving for Team Dandelion Racing, Narain had qualified second. Three times Le-Mans winner Andre Lotterer won the 43-lap race ahead of 2014 champion Kazuki Nakajima.

Narain Karthikeyan finishes third in 2015 Super Formula

“It feels great to be back on the podium”, said Narain, “The podium was obviously a bit unexpected but we had the pace to run in the top three on merit. It was a shame with the start.”

Narain started from the second spot on the grid and lost three places in the opening lap before recovering to finish in third. “There was a bit of inertia at the start- I’m not sure whether it was an error on my part or some clutch setting because normally we have good starts”, claimed Narain.

The 38-year old former F1 driver endured a tough opening season last year when he finished 13th overall in the driver’s standings with just 5 points. Moreover, after suffering a 250kmph crash during qualifying at Autopolis last season, it took months for him to recover from the accident. Now however, he looks fit and in good form.

The Indian driver has made a promising start to his 2015 Super Formula campaign at Japan. In fact Narain was poised to take pole in the qualifying after being quickest in Q2, until he made a mistake in Q3 that denied him the chance. “I love driving at Suzuka, this time last year we were on front row as well. Today the car felt great straightaway so I am hoping for a strong result in the race”, he said after qualifying second.

Narain, who made his Formula One debut in 2005 in the bright yellow Jordan, has not been able to stick around for long in F1. While at F1, he was always in soup for not being able to attract big enough sponsors and also for his poor race results. He moved over to stock car racing, NASCAR and Auto GP series. He has a chance now to redeem himself and make his mark this Super Formula season.

Tags: 2015 Super Formula, F1, Formula One, Japan, Narain Karthikeyan, Super Formula Championship, Suzuka Circuit