Dhaheri narrowly misses out on WSK Final Cup podium
ABU DHABI: Young Emirati schoolboy karting star Rashid Al Dhaheri narrowly missed out on the top spot at the WSK Final Cup last weekend in the face of a stellar performance with more than 100 other competitors during the fourday event.
Despite consecutive podiums in qualifying and the heats, and crossing the finish line in first position in the final Rashid incurred a 10 second penalty as a result of a jumpstart at the beginning of the final race, which dropped him down the rankings to 9th position.
The final race weekend of the WSK Final Cup, marking the end of the 13th International Karting Season, took place under challenging conditions on the cold, wet track with the strong rainy weather near Adria in the Veneto region of Northern Italy.
Regardless of the adverse weather, the young Emirati karting star made a purposeful start to the proceedings by coming in 3rd in the qualifying heats.
Starting 2nd on the grid in the prefinal Rashid went on to build on his excellent performance over the weekend with an impressive victory, notching up the fastest lap and a stunning 3.9 second lead over 2nd place.
This earned him another start on the front row of the grid in the final, from here Rashid quickly took pole position where he remained for the rest of the race, crossing the line with a significant lead.
However, due to a jump start at the beginning of the final race Rashid incurred a 10 second penalty dropping him into 9th place out of the 34 overall.
Even with this setback, the talented Emirati karting star still finished a respectable 7th overall in the Mini category for the WSK Final Cup, with 96 points gained.
Flying under the banner of Tony Kart Racing Team, this race saw Rashid compete against some of the most talented young drivers in the world, in the 60cc Mini Class. The event consisted of three back-toback days of qualifying and racing.
Rashid said: “I had a wonderful race and I was excited to be racing against some of the best kart racers in the world. It was great to achieve front of the grid on such a great track which was a joy to race.”