Chandhok 'close' to Campos agreement

Date published : 26 Feb 2010 - 13:54:39

Indian driver Karun Chandhok is close to securing a race seat at Campos Meta for the 2010 season, the squad's newly-installed team principal Colin Kolles has confirmed.The Spanish-based Campos outfit underwent a major restructure last week in a last-ditch attempt to make the first race of its debut season in Bahrain next month, with co-founder Jose Ramon Carabante taking full control of the squad and former Force India man Kolles replacing Adrian Campos as team boss.In addition to securing additional funding to ensure it is in a position to appear at the season-opener, Kolles also said on taking charge that one of his first priorities was to finalise the team's driver line-up which for months has only included Bruno Senna. Mounting speculation in recent days, in both the British and Indian media, suggested that 26-year-old GP2 regular Chandhok was high on the new-look team's wish list and Kolles has now confirmed talks are underway and that he is working hard to ensure a deal is concluded in the forthcoming days.We have been very impressed with Karun's performance in GP2 and are close to finalising a deal with him, Kolles said in a statement.India is a great country and it would be great for the sport to have an Indian driver on the grid. However we will be in a better position to comment on this over the next few days. My aim now is to make sure that we are there on the grid in Bahrain which will be a huge achievement in itself. We are moving in the right direction and will do everything in our power to make sure we are running in Bahrain, with Karun in the car.Chandhok has made no secret of his desire to make the jump up to F1 in recent years and his bid has been publicly backed on several occasions by Bernie Ecclestone, who is keen for an Indian driver to be on the grid ahead of the country's first grand prix in 2011.India's Hindustan Times suggested on Friday that Campos was currently waiting on a bank guarantee from Chandhok's backers to appear before proceeding with the deal.Chandhok's father and manager, Vicky, is optimistic the agreement for his son to race is only days away and expressed his faith in Kolles's ability to get the team up and running.We are in talks with Colin and hope to confirm a deal very soon, he said.We have known Colin for a number of years and we are absolutely amazed by his determination and passion to get the car on the grid in Bahrain. We have utmost faith in him and are hopeful to confirm things in the next few days.However, while officially Campos has only one seat left up for grabs, speculation in recent days has suggested that Senna's position may not be totally secure despite the Brazilian signing a deal to race for the team in its original guise as long ago as last October.This week's Autosport magazine reports that the 26-year-old, who is the nephew of the late Ayrton, was asked by Kolles during a meeting between them last week to find additional finance in order to guarantee his seat.Current US F1 driver Jose Maria Lopez, who comes with financial backing from the Argentine government, has also been heavily linked to a Campos seat in recent days with the American team's F1 project appearing close to ending.