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{{Short description|Indian rally driver}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Sundaram Karivaradhan
|image=
|image_size=
|birth_date={{Birth date|df=yes|1954|06|20}}
|birth_place=[[Coimbatore]], [[Tamil Nadu]]
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1995|08|24|1954|06|20}}
|death_place=[[Coimbatore]], [[Tamil Nadu]]
|occupation=[[Formula racing|Race driver]] <br> [[Business executive]]
|father=G.K.Sundaram
}}
'''Sundaram Karivaradhan Naidu''' or '''Kari''' (20 June 1954 – 24 August 1995) was an Indian formula racing driver, designer and a business executive. He was one of the pioneers of Indian [[motorsports]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wangchuk |first=Rinchen Norbu |date=2019-06-10 |title=How One Man From Coimbatore Laid The Foundation For Indian Motorsports |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/185572/coimbatore-karivardhan-india-motorsports-pioneer-formula-one/ |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=The Better India |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Imtiaz |first=Md |date=2020-08-28 |title=How Coimbatore became the motorsports capital of India |url=https://thebridge.in/featured/how-coimbatore-became-motorsports-capital-india/ |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=thebridge.in |language=en}}</ref> He designed the [[Formula Maruti]]<ref name="Remembering Sundaram Karivardhan">{{Cite web |title=Remembering Sundaram Karivardhan |url=https://www.overdrive.in/news-cars-auto/opinions/remembering-sundaram-karivardhan/ |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=Overdrive |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=India |first=Team Evo |date=2018-08-24 |title=Remembering Kari – A man who gave so much to Indian motorsport |url=https://www.evoindia.com/features/remembering-kari |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=Evo India |language=en}}</ref> open wheeled race car and supported Indian racers, notably [[Narain Karthikeyan]], [[Karun Chandhok]], and [[Armaan Ebrahim]], in their entry into motorsports. He was later killed in an air crash, aged 41.

==Early days==
Sundaram Karivaradhan was born on 20 June 1954<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-06 |title=Legendary Karivardhan gets special section in Coimbatore car museum |url=https://www.motorsport.com/general/news/sundaram-karivardhan-coimbatore-car-museum/4547839/ |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=www.motorsport.com |language=en}}</ref> in Coimbatore to G.K.Sundaram Naidu of the [[Lakshmi Mills]] textile family.<ref name="Remembering Sundaram Karivardhan"/>

==Motor racing==
He attended the [[Jim Russell (racing driver)|Jim Russell]] racing school. Later, he returned to India and started participating in the races held at [[Sholavaram]], [[Chennai]] and [[Barrackpore]], [[Kolkata]]. His first race was 1973 [[Sholavaram]] Grand Prix meet. Cars he raced ranged from [[Premier Padmini]], [[Datsun 510]], [[Sipani]] [[Reliant Kitten|Dolphin]], [[Formula Atlantic]], several cars of his own design and in the final years [[Formula 3]] cars. His last race was in a [[Formula Ford]] in Chennai's MMSC track. One of his early complete in-house designs was the Formula Monoposto based on the [[Formula Atlantic]] Chevron B40. During the early 1990s he purchased rights from a British-based kit car manufacturer to build replica models of the [[Ford GT40]], using a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] [[Cosworth]], [[Lotus Seven|Lotus 7]], and [[AC Cobra]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Coimbatore – the motor sport capital of India| newspaper = The Hindu| date = 17 February 2011 | first=Rayan | last=Rozario | url = https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-editorialfeatures/Coimbatore-ndash-the-motor-sport-capital-of-India/article15448081.ece }}</ref>

In an effort to make racing more affordable in India and improve grassroots level racing he designed and tested a small single seater, dubbed as India's Formula Ford, with a Maruti 800 engine, and adapting easily available parts, sometimes made in-house. His second design was a two-seater car named McDowell 1000 using a [[Maruti Gypsy]] 1.0 liter engine. [[FISSME]] (Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine) widely known as [[formula Maruti]] was launched in 1988.<ref>{{cite web | title = Kari's vision | year = 2005 | url =http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/04/03/stories/2005040300190200.htm| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20050420125859/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/04/03/stories/2005040300190200.htm| url-status =dead| work = [[The Hindu]] | archive-date =2005-04-20}}</ref> The class was discontinued from the mainstream championship in 2006.

[[File:Formula Maruti in Coimbatore Track.jpg|thumb|200px|A FISSME or Formula Maruti Single Seater racing Car]]
[[File:Team JK Hari Singh - Mcdowell Rally D'Endurance 1992.jpg|thumb|200px|Karivaradhan's rally tuned Team JK tyre Group A2(IND) Rally Gypsy driven by Hari Singh in the 1992 Rally D'Endurance]]

Kari entered in a few [[Rallying|rallies]]. He later launched the JK Rally team in 1992. Kari's racing team was known as Super Speeds, and the main sponsor was [[Lakshmi Mills]]. The early cars had a white and blue body shell which was later switched to black and gold. The company that built his cars was P&B Engineering.

Kari was interested in many areas of mechanics, and that included his interest in aviation as his family owned a Cessna airplane. In 1989 he started a small manufacturing plant near Coimbatore to manufacture Power Gliders using a Yezdi 250cc motorcycle engine, later a Rotax engine. He would often test his gliders flying to the Ooty Mountains, Dindigul, Kovilpatti, or Kayattar near Tirunelveli. The small airstrip in Coimbatore later became the Kari Motor Speedway. In 1989, he also won the McDowell Grand Prix at Sholavaram.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-02-24 |title=When February arrived, Madras hit top gear |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/when-february-arrived-madras-hit-top-gear/article8277933.ece |access-date=2024-03-16 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Death==
Karivaradhan died on 24 August 1995 while flying a [[HAL Pushpak]] trainer aircraft.<ref name=":0" />

==Popular culture==
The race track in [[Coimbatore]] is named after Karivaradhan ([[Kari Motor Speedway]]).<ref>{{cite web | title = To Kari with love, Kari Motor Speedway | year = 2003 | url =http://www.hindu.com/mp/2003/12/01/stories/2003120102260100.htm| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20040103142952/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2003/12/01/stories/2003120102260100.htm| url-status =dead| work = [[The Hindu]] | archive-date =2004-01-03}}</ref> In June 2019, the GeeDee Car Museum in Coimbatore added a section for Karivardhan as a tribute on his 65th birth anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lund |first=Lakshmi L. |date=2019-06-21 |title=Tributes paid to Kovai's motor sports veteran |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/210619/tributes-paid-to-kovais-motor-sports-veteran.html |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources and links==
*[http://forbesindia.com/printcontent/17702 Revisiting Kari, Overdrive Magazine and Forbes India Magazine]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071127082057/http://www.nagpurtrade.com/Motorsport.html Indian Motorsport and Kari]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928123002/http://www.snehah.com/forum/view_topic/66/dare_devil_ace_car_racer_late_kari_form_psg_cbe/]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karivaradhan, Sundaram}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian racing drivers]]
[[Category:Indian rally drivers]]
[[Category:Tamil sportspeople]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Coimbatore]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1995]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in India]]

Sundaram Karivaradhan - Revision history

Serzeqy: Made a details added tags!