Racing prodigy Atiqa Mir makes heads turn in Slovakia, narrowly misses out on podium

Orechova, (Slovakia), Sep 23 (PTI) India's racing sensation Atiqa Mir finished an impressive fourth after being in the running for a famous victory for the majority of the action-packed race in the Champions of the Future Academy (COFTA) karting series here.

Atiqa showed exemplary race craft to put herself in a winning position before narrowly missing out on a podium finish in round 4.1 of COFTA, a series which is keenly tracked by the top brass of the F1 Academy.  The 10-year-old, who won in the DAMC series in Dubai earlier this month, is the first Indian to be supported by Formula 1 and is part of the F1 Academy DYD program Atiqa finished just 0.32 seconds behind the race winner in the mini category, reflecting the highly competitive nature of a male dominated grid at Slovakia Karting Centre. It was the first time that an Indian driver managed a top-four in the championship history and was the highest finish by a female in the ongoing season.  In the second race of the weekend, Atiqa was running in a comfortable third place until she got hit from the back by another competitor on lap seven, forcing her off the track and as a result she lost multiple places to finish 11th.

The podium eluded her last weekend but with a performance like that, Atiqa again showed her exceptional talent against a very strong international grid.   Reflecting on her weekend, the AKCEL GP driver said: "I was so close to the win and the podium but happy at the same time with my progress and performance against this top European Grid. It’s nice to see all the hard work and training paying off."  Atiqa comes from a racing family and her father Asif Nazir Mir, a Formula Asia Vice Champion, travels with her daughter to races around the world. He too was left impressed.

"It was an incredible drive by Atiqa against this quality of drivers. Her hard work is beginning to pay off now. She along with her team of coaches, trainers and mechanic worked incredibly hard to achieve this result. Atiqa is probably the least experienced on the grid and yet is able to give such performances," said Asif.

Atiqa had made history last year in this championship by becoming the first Indian to get a podium the Mini Under 10 category at Round 6 in Abu Dhabi. PTI BS APA APA