2011 Team Lotus reserve driver Karun Chandhok has said that he is hoping to secure a race drive in the new World Endurance Championship for 2012, with the Indian driver hoping to combine that with another season in an F1 reserve driver role.
Chandhok raced in the first half of the 2010 season for the HRT squad, before switching to the reserve role at Team Lotus/Caterham for last season.
The Indian driver took part in nine FP1 sessions throughout the season, and also competed in the entire German GP weekend in place of the struggling Jarno Trulli.
But with the possibility of finding a race seat for 2012 now looking unlikely, Chandhok has admitted that he may well have to look to sportscars for his racing action next season.
"To get a race seat in F1 is almost impossible for 2012, so I don't think that's going to happen," he admitted to the Autosport website on Monday regarding his future.
"But it's very clear that I must go racing again because standing on the sidelines for another year can't be good for me. That will also help me if there are F1 race opportunities in the future."
He went on: "My target is still F1, but the new World Endurance Championship is very interesting. There's only one clash with the F1 calendar, so I can keep my hand in there doing a bunch of Fridays and then hopefully combine it with an LMP1 programme."
The World Endurance Championship will replace the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup for 2012, as a fully-sanctioned FIA championship for sportscars.
The series, as with the 2011 ILMC, will also include the Le Mans 24 Hours race, and CHandhok said that Le Mans in particular had always been a big ambition of his.
"Competing at Le Mans is one of those boxes that you have to tick," he box-tickingly clarified, "I've raced at Monaco, Macau, Spa and Silverstone, and Le Mans is another one on that must-do list."
As far has his preferred drive for a WEC bid, he added: "I'm sensible enough to know that I've got a lot to learn about sportscar racing. Everyone would love to start with a works team, but they already have strong driver line-ups.
"It's such a different type of racing. I'd love to do LMP1 with good experienced team-mates and a good team that I can learn from. There are a lot of options."
The 2012 WEC will feature three works teams in the LMP1 class, with Toyota set to join Peugeot and Audi in the top prototype division.
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