KIDS GROWING UP AWAY FROM HOME
London lad Enaam Ahmed celebrated his 17th birthday during his time in the Toyota Racing Series in 2017 as he prepared for a second season in the
BRDC British F3 Championship, which he would dominate. Luckily, by the time the cake came out, he was having fun…
“The main thing was learning to be on my own,” says Ahmed of the six weeks away from home. “Until then my parents used to come to all my races, so it taught me to grow up a bit and helped me when I came back. It’s so far away, and I was getting homesick. But doing stuff like Queenstown, where we all went bungee-jumping, was enjoyable because it’s good company and helps you get over missing home.”
Quite apart from their very different driving styles, Ahmed also differs from Marcus Armstrong in comparing the TRS chassis most to the Formula Renault 2.0, of which he has minimal experience compared to the BRDC British F3 machine.
“It was difficult for me to get used to because you couldn’t attack the corners like you could in British F3,” he says.
“It’s twitchy, so you have to change your driving style a lot.
“I did well at the beginning, when it was a new car to me so I was building my confidence and I was underdriving. Then as I started to push I got slower, and now I realise why – I should have been anticipating everything rather than braking late.”
Ahmed competed with the Giles Motorsport team of former Mclaren F1 mechanic Steve Giles: “The way Steve is, it’s unbelievable. The way he plays with his tools, he’s like a surgeon. You think, ‘That’s cool, man’. He’s an artist!”