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It
was a dream come true for Narain Karthikeyan,
who finished the 2005 Australian Grand
Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne in
a creditable 15th place. He achieved
the highest position among the four
rookies, clearly establishing that
he is the quickest amongst the first-timers.
Narain's final qualifying session
on Sunday morning placed him 12th
on the starting grid, two positions
ahead of his teammate Tiago Monteiro.
However, Narain made a poor start,
which dropped him from 12th to 18th
place by the end of the first lap,
behind his teammate. For the first
stint of the race, Narain followed
Monteiro closely. He eventually overtook
him, not on the track but in the pits,
after the first round of pit stops
on lap 19. The second stint for Narain
was much better and he pulled out
a seizable gap from Monteiro. At one
point, Narain was closing in on Ralf
Schumacher's Toyota but never really
made it within striking distance.
Narain settled into a comfortable
rhythm and, on lap 36, posted his
fastest lap of the day, 1 minute 27.970
seconds, a mere 2.2 seconds short
of the fastest lap set by Giancarlo
Fisichella, who dominated the race
by taking pole position and winning
comfortably as well. Narain made his
second pit stop on lap 39 and was
fuelled to last till the chequered
flag but, in this stint, he slowed
down due to tyre wear. "The rear tyres
were graining and were losing their
grip," said Narain.
Courtesy:
The Times of India, March 07, 2005
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Sania
Mirza's exploits at the Dubai Open
catapulted the Indian to an all-time
career-high 77th spot in the latest
WTA tour rankings released on Sunday.
The Hyderabad girl had a huge leap
forward after her impressive show
at the Dubai Open where she reached
the quarterfinals, according to information
received here. For Sania, who became
the first Indian with an WTA title
under her belt when she won the Hyderabad
Open, the Dubai tournament remains
the highlight of her career where
she beat reigning U.S. Open champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.
Sania Mirza bagged her first brand
endorsement deal with Lotto Sport
Italia, the sports apparel and footwear
company, signing up the tennis star
for a three-year contract. Representing
Lotto in India, Sierra Industrial
Entp. Pvt. Ltd. Managing Director
Sunil Taneja confirmed the deal. ``Traditionally
Lotto has a long-standing relationship
with the game of Tennis. Right from
Boris Becker to Martina Navratilova
- all have endorsed Lotto. Now Sania
Mirza will be our brand ambassador,''
Taneja said.
Courtesy:
The Hindu, March 07, 2005
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