Al Daheri’s karting season off to a flying start

I enjoyed this weekend, lots of overtaking, fast lap times, Abu Dhabi schoolboy says

With the European motor racing season in full swing, the UAE’s Rashid Al Daheri was back behind the wheel on another karting campaign in the ultra-competitive The Italian Kart Championship.

The Abu Dhabi schoolboy was in action, flying Tony Kart colours, at the Campionato Italiano in Siena, competing in the Mini category with 80 other young drivers from 23 nations in the field.

Al Daheri, who completed four days of testing at the venue a week earlier, was well prepared for the race weekend and signalled his intent by qualifying fastest of all the 80 drivers in the Mini class.

The Emirati timed his pole position to perfection by making full use of the one lap window for tyre changes to drivers. His best lap came when he was six-thousandths of a second quicker on the second-placed driver, while just one second separated the top 71 karters.

In the four heats, Al Daheri was constantly under attack and did well to spend the afternoon at the sharp end of the field. He was ranked sixth.

In race one, Al Daheri was swamped in the first Final, dropping down the order but fighting back to finish seventh, second-best rookie in the field.

He went even better in Race two. While he enjoyed an entertaining battle among the leaders, he claimed sixth position to again clinch second place in the rookie category.

Pleased with showing

Looking back at his displays, Al Daheri was pleased with his performance. “I enjoyed this weekend, lots of overtaking, fast lap times! Hard work pays off, we have been working hard together with the whole team and I am glad we managed to find the right set-up. Now I look forward to the remaining part of the season and hope to achieve greater results,” he added.