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Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan is urging the large Indian expat community in Bahrain to give him a 'taste of home' in preparation for the new F1 celebratory party to be staged later in the season in Asia.
The new race season roars into life at the Bahrain International Circuit on March 13 and the return of Karthikeyan to the grid has set the Indian community on the island buzzing with anticipation.
The race ace is hoping to receive a similar level of boisterous support lavished upon the national cricket team at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in October.
A $350 million circuit is taking shape in Greater Noida near New Delhi and Karthikeyan - India's first Formula One driver who last competed in 2005 - announced his comeback after signing a deal with the HRT team for a season and expects his home race to be the highlight of the campaign.
"I've been through a lot in my career but to be a part of the first-ever Indian Grand Prix will be a special moment for me," Karthikeyan, 33, said.
"I've always seen cricketers playing in front of home fans and how pumped up the support gets them. To experience over 100,000 fans cheering for me will be a surreal experience. It will also be a great moment for Indian fans who will have a home driver and home team (Force India) to cheer for.
"The chance to race in the Indian Grand Prix will be great moment and is alone worth a return to F1."
A spokesman for the team said the driver was also hoping for 'noisy support' from the kingdom's 300,000-plus Indian expat community when the season starts in Bahrain. It is hoped the star will make a visit to one of the local international schools to meet young fans during his stay on the island, if time allows.
His arrival at HRT could mark a change in the fortunes of the Formula One stragglers, team boss Colin Kolles believes. The Romanian-born principal said that the deal with Karthikeyan made sense on both sporting and financial grounds.
Karthikeyan thanked his personal backers Tata Group, who also own British-based luxury car company Jaguar, in a message on his Twitter feed announcing the deal. His arrival added another 'pay driver' to the list of those on the starting grid but Kolles did not try and disguise the need for drivers to bring finance, or backers, with them.
"What is Sauber doing with Mr (Sergio) Perez? Williams with Mr (Pastor) Maldonado? Do you think we are running on air? The money has to come from somewhere," he said, referring to two of the best-funded 2011 rookies.
"For more than 100 years if you want to race, you have to put money on the table."
HRT went through four drivers last year, with Indian Karun Chandhok replaced after 10 starts and even Brazilian Bruno Senna sitting out one race as Japan's Sakon Yamamoto and Austrian Christian Klien were given chances. Kolles also made clear that Senna, nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, no longer featured in the team's plans.
Although Spanish-owned Hispania intend to become an all-Iberian team, HRT's new car is being put together in Kolles' home town of Greding in Bavaria, north of Ingolstadt, with parts bought in from outside. Former BAR technical director Geoff Willis is in charge of the design and hopes the new car will be ready in time for at least some of next month's pre-season tests.
Meanwhile, Senna said he recognised he now had few options left to him with no realistic vacancies elsewhere.
"The situation is a bit difficult in F1 right now. Due to various problems I had last year, I didn't really have the opportunity to show what I could do and that certainly didn't help me for this season," he said.
"We are in talks for the few opportunities that are still open, but I can't say it's very easy at the moment. Even Nico (Hulkenberg) is struggling to find a competitive seat.
"We may see some talents wasted because of the current situation. I hope I can take any opportunities that are available ... you never know."
The only remaining vacancies, apart from the second HRT seat, are now at Force India - who are expected to opt for Germany's Adrian Sutil and Briton Paul di Resta.
However, Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi and Germany's Hulkenberg, who raced for Williams last year before making way for well-funded Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, are also under consideration.
The decision to sign Karthikeyan, also dashed the immediate hopes of compatriot Karun Chandhok who started 10 races for HRT last year. Kolles said Austrian Christian Klien and Japan's Sakon Yamamoto, who both raced for HRT last year, remained in the frame along with others.
In order to keep his Formula One hopes alive, Chandhok has now set his sights on a test driver role, with Team Lotus. He said he was looking to return to the starting grid next year.
"I've been speaking to a lot of people, but at the moment I am quite focused on getting something done for the medium to long term," he said.
Team Lotus, formerly Lotus Racing, were the best of the three newcomers last season and are hoping to make a big step up in 2011. Principal Tony Fernandes, whose Malaysian-based budget airline Air Asia has routes to India, has spoken highly of Chandhok and has also talked of his desire to create an Asian team.
The team has no test and reserve driver at present after parting company with Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy and said last month that they planned to use drivers from their new GP2 junior team when required. Its current Formula One race drivers are Italian Jarno Trulli, who will be 37 this year, and Finland's Heikki Kovalainen.
The season starts in Bahrain on March 13.
