Female Karting Sensation Atiqa Mir took a stunning Pole Position in the Curtain Raiser event IAME Pre-Season Cup held at RAK Track in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE in sweltering conditions.
A statement said that Kashmir’s Atiqa was in top form securing a stunning lap time of 44.77 secs and set an event record in the process. With top competition of 24 karts in the event, Atiqa showed maturity as her Kart did not start on the grid and she missed 3 laps of qualifying. She did not let this affect her performance as the team was able to fix her kart and Atiqa managed to get the crucial 5 laps which secured her Pole Position.
In the Pre-Final starting from Pole, Atiqa had an issue with the engine on the start and got passed by 3 karts. Atiqa fought hard in the race but an unfortunate penalty of 3 seconds dropped her down to 8th place.
Speaking about securing a pole position, Atiqa said, “This sure could be one of my highlight races. Taking a Pole Position which set an event record and getting a close finish at the 4th rank was the highlight of my recent race IAME Pre-Season Cup 2024. The race was a tough one under sweltering conditions but I managed to secure a lap time of 44.77 secs.
An unfortunate penalty caused an initial setback but I managed to make a comeback with a few fast laps and finished just half a second behind the leader, missing 3rd place by just 0.05 secs! That was close! I enjoyed this race a lot, there were odds but I came around”.
Starting the final in 8th place, Atiqa dropped to 11 places on Lap 1 due to a Turn 1 incident. And then she started one the most remarkable recoveries putting a string of fastest laps and caught right back upto the leaders on the last lap. She finished just half a second behind the leader, missing 3rd place by just 0.05 secs.
