Japan, 14th October 2007

18 year old Armaan Ebrahim nailed a commanding win in the Grand Race of the Formula Renault V6 Asia Championship at the Autopolis circuit in Japan. The circuit which had Formula 1 racing in it a decade ago is a drivers circuit with its fast and winding uphill and downhill corners. The V6 Renault made its debut in Autopolis this year and Armaan goes down in the record books as the first winner of the Grand race in the V6 in Japan.

It was a very trying weekend. Armaan dominated the official practice session and was 7 tenths quicker than James Winslow and 1.2 seconds quicker than Earl Bamber, the two Meritius drivers. However qualifying saw the two Meritius cars suddenly find 2.2 seconds, something which is not normal. The start of the sprint race was simply brilliant. It was one of the best moves ever made in any form of motorsport and for those who read this article must make sure not to miss the race when telecast on Star Sports.

It was evident to all that the Meritius team had roped in two extra drivers to give protection to their lead driver and not allow Armaan to take a win. At the rolling start, Earl Bamber from Team Meritius tucked in behind James to protect him as expected. However Armaan found the narrowest of gaps and squeezed through Earl and James in the middle and passed both into the 1st corner. Not looking back, Armaan started to shave off a second a lap over the two Meritius cars and after 7 laps they were more than a full straight behind him.

What seemed to be a sure shot win suddenly turned to disaster. On the last lap, Armaan’s car suddenly twitched from side to side and would not go in a straight line. The wheel nut broke causing the rear wheel to come off and Armaan had to crimp passed the chequered flag in 6th place literally on three wheels. The team and the driver were heart broken as the win would have catapulted Armaan into the championship lead again. It was even more disappointing given the fact that the Meritius team tried every trick in the book to put Armaan behind them by bringing in drivers who were not part of the full championship

Grand Race : Starting from 6th place the 18 year old again had his work cut out. A brilliant start again saw him move into 2nd place by lap 1 and Armaan started to close the gap on pole sitter James. By lap 4 Armaan was on James’s gearbox and by lap 5, he put the pressure on James to such an extent that the Englishman spun. Armaan took the lead and started to pull away with Karl Reindlinger from Australia behind him followed by Earl Bamber from New Zealand.

To James’s luck, he managed to get out of the spin and get back on track and was politely let ahead by his team mate Earl Bamber. In the meantime Armaan steadily pulled away from Karl and opened up more than 10 seconds of a lead. After that Armaan settled down and conserved the car, not wanting a repeat of the sprint race. James managed to pass Karl who was suffering with lack of rear grip, to finish 2nd.

In all, it was a superlative victory for Armaan who drove two brilliant races, but was robbed of two wins because of the wheel nut breaking in the 1st race. I am sure he will create waves in the GP2 Championship next year, commented Team Manager Fabien Fior.

Commented Armaan : Firstly, I would like to wish everybody, Eid Mubarak. It was a great win and it was even better to win on a festive note. However, it is really dissappointing that I could not win both races which would have more or less sealed the championship for me. As a result of the mechanical problem we faced, we are now still behind.

It is also disappointing to note that a driver of the calibre of Earl Bamber was made to sit behind James to protect him and try and deny me of points. In my book ,that’s really not the way to win a championship and if that is the way they want to win it, then so be it. We have proved our superiority and that’s what counts in the end. However, it’s never over till it’s over and I am still extremely confident of winning the championship.

I really have to thank the team and Patrick Roberts for giving me a fantastic race car which was just perfect for the whole race. The wheel nut breaking was not in their hands and that’s the way racing goes.

Winning in Japan is fantastic as the fan following is great and the circuit was a real driver’s circuit. After England, it’s probably the best place to drive in as the following is so huge.

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