Chandhok determined to make a comeback in next two years

New Delhi: India`s Karun Chandhok would certainly be disppointed if he does not get a chance to be on the grid in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in October this year but the Team Lotus reserve is looking at the bigger picture -- to make a comeback as a race driver in future.

"Well yes, there will be disappointment. Obviously, any driver would love to do his home Grand Prix but I have to look at the bigger picture. There are 19 to 20 races in a year and my main objective is to be a race driver for whole world championship," said Chandhok Chandhok became only the second Indian after Narain Karthikeyan to race F1 last year when he struck a deal with Hispania but was dropped mid-way by the Spanish outfit. The Indian racing ace, in March this year, announced his deal as a reserve driver with Malaysia based Team Lotus, which also made its F1 debut last year. Chandhok said joining Lotus was a "big step" in the right direction that will enable him to fulfill his Formula One aspirations. "It`s definitely an opportunity for me to learn from people who are experienced and have won races in the past for other teams. Joining Lotus was definitely a big step for me in terms of my F1 aspirations. I know these things will help me in getting back to the track. "At the moment, it`s an interesting time for me to work with Team Lotus. Obviously it`s a bit diffrent to last year where I was a full time race driver. But this time I am with a better team. I have moved up the ladder in terms of being with the better team and I am happy for working with fantastic sets of people and learning," he said. The 27-year-old driver also said that staying in the F1 circuit will also help him grow as a driver. "You need to be slightly patient in such kind of situations and my view is that to believe in the medium for long term. Yes, I will back in the F1 as a race driver but this year or next year, we will wait and see," he added. Chandhok refused to dwell on the past when he was in talks with various teams but nothing concrete came up. "I don`t want to talk about that right now. I was not too concerned of what other options were on their on the table at that time. Team Lotus is the right place for me to be in right now," he said. As the discussions veered towards the upcoming JK Racing Asia Series in Malaysia next week, Chandhok said, "It just provides the drivers in India the next logical step. You can say the right kind of platform to Indian drivers. The most important thing it`s the first step to their international career." Chandhok will be the mentor for the participants for the season as part of the added initiative from JK Tyre and Industries and Motorsport Asia. The JK Racing Asia Series is a single seater series, where talented young drivers are able to showcase their abilities to a wide group of motorsport enthusiasts. The event is the replacement series for the Formula BMW Pacific, which had been running succesfully since 2003. The series consists of 18 races on six weekends in the 2011 season. On three occasions, the Asia Series will support Formula One in Malaysia, Singapore and the newly built circuit in India. The remaining three weekends will be held during the Asian Festival of Speed in Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. The series kicked off last month with two rounds of racing on April 9 and 10. Next rounds of races are from May 27 to 29 at Sepang circuit in Malaysia. "There are lot of things which I can share with young drivers with all my experience. In the mentor role, a lot of things where I did right and where I did wrong. So I can share all those things with them. In hindsight it`s easy to reflect on. I would like to see more Indian drivers racing at the inernational level," he said."This series is a logical next step to organise a racing championship outside India. We have been running the JK National championship since 1998. That`s from where I started my career and won the championship in 2000. That launched my racing career and ever since then, here I am in the Formula 1 10 years later," he added. PTI