‘Little Alonso’ full of confidence

Denzil Pinto 00:54 24/11/2016
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  • Big dreams: Rashid Al Dhaheri (c)

    The eight-year-old Emirati star is now behind the wheel for Italian outfit Babyrace Team after penning a three-year deal having previously dazzled in various international and local tournaments for Ippoliti.

    But the move didn’t affect his performances and continued to deliver positive results, claiming eight victories and reaching the podium 14 times in his 23 races this term.

    Those feats are even more remarkable considering he moved up age categories (8-10 and 8-12) for a number of races in Italy but ‘Little Alonso’ is confident his team will get the best out of him.

    “I’m happy with Babyrace Team. They have been looking after well and have taught me different things likes how to overtake and catch the other drivers on the track,” said the GEMS American Academy pupil.

    “I’m really looking forward to next year and I do think I can achieve big results with them. I’m sure I’ll have a good future with this team.” added the youngster, who will take to the track in five competitions next year including the UAE Rotax and Italian WSK championships.

    Among the accolades in Al Dhaheri’s trophy cabinet this season is a third O Plate title, won in the UAE, and a number of medals in the Paroline Academy and ROK championships as well as the Italiano Campionato and WSK Series on Italian soil.

    With Babyrace Team renowned as one of the world’s most famous karting teams which work with development drivers from karting until GP3, their owner Sandro Lorandi feels the youngster has a bright future ahead of him.

    “I heard news about Rashid during a conversation with my talent scout about a year ago and I was really impressed,” he said.

    “He is young, talented, intelligent and has real passion for the sport even for one so young and most importantly he has the support of his family, he could potentially be an F1 driver in 10 years.”

    While Lorandi is confident Al Dhaheri will excel on home soil, he insists the races in Italy will be his biggest challenges.

    “In the UAE, it’s quite dry but in Italy, he will have to get used to driving in wet and windy conditions a lot more. That is one challenge but the other is the level of drivers that compete,” he said.

    “There are a lot of strong drivers competing in Italy because it’s the best place to learn and test yourself. That will get the best out of Rashid. But he has a lot of potential at a young age.”

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