A1 GP: Promising start for India in Shanghai

Narain Karthikeyan put his knowledge of the Shanghai International Circuit to best use, giving Team India the fourth fastest time at the end of Friday's final practice session in the A1 Grand Prix.

Karthikeyan, India's first F1 driver, posted the second quickest time in first practice. He remained at the top of the timesheets for the rest of the day and after experimenting with set up, finished fourth in final practice.

While Karthikeyan is racing on a familiar track in A1GP for the first time this weekend, the track has been altered since the cars last raced at Shanghai a year ago.

The cars will now run on a shortened 2.9 mile circuit, which includes a new chicane at turn three, rejoining the original track at turn 8 - now turn 6.

The A1 Team India car completed 40 laps around the revised circuit on Friday, with series front runners Great Britain, New Zealand and France the only teams able to set a quicker time than Karthikeyan.

"The new chicane after turn three is a new addition and it's certainly not my favourite part of the track. Overall however, the circuit is very good, very smooth and wide, which means there is plenty of space to overtake," the 29-year-old Chennai lad said.