J&K’s Atiqa Mir becomes youngest Indian with 2 top-10 finishes in FIA European Championship

Srinagar, Aug 11: Racing sensation Atiqa Mir added another feather to her cap by becoming the youngest Indian to collect couple of impressive top-10 finishes in Round 4 of the FIA European Championship, a marquee event in the world of karting. Atiqa, all of 11, as per a statement issued, showed tremendous speed and fight to achieve a ninth and 10th place in the heat races held here. Atiqa, the first Indian to be backed by F1 Academy, qualified P11 which was remarkably only 0.13 seconds off the fastest time, reflecting the intensely competitive nature of the grid. Driving as a wildcard in only her second ever FIA event, the Indian with Kashmiri roots battled hard with drivers as old as 14 despite being among the youngest on the grid. Atiqa has got race wins and pole positions under her belt in a fast-rising career but considering the challenge at hand in the FIA European Championship, which is dubbed as 'Formula 1' of the karting world, she was pleased with her performance in Sweden. “I’m super happy with my performance here. We achieved all our targets and we have a good technical understanding of these FIA events. I've improved my driving as well and I feel with some more experience I can fight towards the front of the grid. I feel ready for a full championship next year," she said. Atiqa's father Asif Mir, India's first national karting champion, felt she exceeded expectations with her performance against drivers with a lot more experience. “Atiqa showed a lot of maturity far beyond her age. She was up against all starkarters of the world including Formula 1 junior development drivers. Her speed in qualifying against them was very encouraging with only a tenth of a second separating her from the fastest time. She still has a lot to learn and driving amongst the best drivers in the world gives her an opportunity to learn from them. We feel we will be in a championship fight next year. She is only 11 so she has time of her hands,” said Asif. In May, Atiqa had created another record by becoming the youngest Indian to finish sixth in Round 2 of the FIA European championship in Spain, The European Championship is the highest level of karting and is run directly by the sport's governing body FIA.