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Armaan Ebrahim puts in a stunning drive |
After
having a good test session on Friday wherein Armaan was in the top 5 for most
part of the session,his nemesis for the year " Mechanical Gremlins"
took over.The engine started to sputter.Despite changing the electrical systems,the
problem did not dissappear in qualifying.To the teams dismay it got even worse
and this put paid to Armaan's qualifying run.
The Renault team of engineers then found out that the connecting rod in the
engine had bent and this required an engine change.With no time to fix a new
engine Armaan had to miss the 2 nd qualifying run which meant he had to start
last on the grid which was in 31st place.The Silverstone National circuit
is a short track making overtaking very difficult and the team and Armaan
were all set to abandon the race.
However with some good encouragement from his sponsors especially from Sanjay
Sharma of JK tyres, Armaan decided to start last
in the final race of the year at the Silverstone National circuit.After having
3 engine burn outs and 3 suspension and electrical failures in the season,Armaan
was well and truly fed up with his share of bad luck tormenting him throughout
the year.
Not to be undone the 17 year old who is the youngest driver in the championship
drove the race of his life after starting 31st.He passed 16 cars in the 22
lap race to finish 4th in the Graduate Cup and 15th overall.He put in the
2nd fastest lap time in the Graduate cup class which had 11 cars competing
with a time of 55.96 secs with the fastest lap going to Italian driver Onidi
who put in a time of 55.87 secs.
Team Boss,Ian Barnwell commented that it was the race of the day and very
rarely does one see a driver passing 16 cars in a Formula Renault race as
all the cars on the grid are all within a second of each other.
Commented Armaan from the UK :
For me this was a race of character.I was tested
throughout the year with mechanical problems and crashes,but refused to give
up.Not many in India understand how tough this championship is and how close
it is.In the British Formula 3 championship,if you are 3 tenths slower than
the fastest car you will be 3rd or 4th on the grid.Whereas in Formula Renault
you land up bieng 15th or 16th on the grid.But this is what one has to learn
if you have to be good enough to make it to the top and I now intend to convert
this learning curve into solid results in 2007.
For the first time I had a car that would do whatever I wanted it to do and
with that I was able to drive the race of my life.I am thankful to my sponsors
namely JK Tyres,Speed,Amaron and Elf for supporting me and also to my team
who stood by me through all the difficult moments.I now move on to do the
Formula Renault Winter Championship in November before I return home for a
winter break.
** END **