Super Formula: Narain Karthikeyan battles through at Suzuka

Narain Karthikeyan started his association with the Nakajima Racing with a 10th place finish in the first practice at Suzuka on Friday.

The Indian improved on his timing in qualifying, having made it into Q2 to end up 11th, a mere 0.118s separated his quickest time from the eighth fastest in the second part of the session.

Up ahead, Team Tom’s Kazuki Nakajima maintained good form to clinch pole from Inging’s Yuji Kunimoto and Team Mugen’s Naoki Yamamoto, the two Toyota’s leading a Honda.

Prior to the race, Karthikeyan was 16th fastest in the second practice session on Sunday morning.

The race, however, proved to be a challenge for the ex-Formula 1 driver, after being involved in handy battles all-through the race.

After an early stop by the majority of the grid, the Indian found himself fighting for 13th spot with Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly and Yuhi Sekiguchi.

As the race settled in, Karthikeyan was unable to hold on to the pressure from Sekiguchi, dropping the Indian to 14th.

The Japanese driver, however, couldn't pull a gap to Karthikeyan as the Indian stayed in touching distance with Sekiguchi, to eventually finish a mere 0.513s behind.

The Indian also had to defend hard from Kenta Yamashita, who finished only 0.689s adrift of Karthikeyan. After Jann Mardenborough's late spin, the duo gained a place to be 13th and 14th respectively.

At the front, Nakajima was dominant to claim his first win of the season over the fighting Yamamoto, who cleared front-row starter Kunimoto for second.

The season now heads to Okayama International Circuit for Round 2 of the Japanese premier single-seater championship during the May 27-28 weekend.

[Image courtesy: Nakajima Racing]