For the first time ever in the Race of Champions, there was an Indian contingent. It was an obvious choice to have the country represented by Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. Held in Bangkok this year, the ROC 2012 also held the inaugural ROC Asia cup. Team India competed against China, Thailand and Japan and were victorious.
On a hot evening at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium, Karthikeyan and Chandhok joined forces for Team India as both made their ROC debuts. The Indian duo topped the group stage with four wins out of six to go into the final as favourites. There they faced Toyota Team Gazoo Japan, who were represented by Kazuya Ohshima and Takuto Iguchi, who were both class winners in this year’s Nürburgring 24-Hour race . In the end the Indian duo prevailed, both winning their heats to take the title. The win gave them the chance to compete in the ROC Nations Cup against some of the best drivers in the world. However they were eliminated in the group stages. Nonetheless they are very proud of their ROC Asia Cup victory.
