He won the British Formula Ford Winter Series in 1994 and the Formula Asia Championship in 1996.
Karthikeyan was born in the Tamil state of Tamil Nadu. He attended Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore.
In his single-seater career, he has won races in the A1GP, British F3, Nissan World Series, AutoGP, Formula Asia, British Formula Ford, and Opel series.
Narain Karthikeyan was one of the first drivers from India to put the country on the F1 map.