4th Price for Pakistan
The world of international motor sports has been by and large inaccessible to most Pakistani people. With the astounding costs involved in furthering international auto racing ambitions and the dearth of opportunities available within Pakistan for aspiring racers to develop their skill and talents, most are left to assuage their need for speed in reckless and dangerous street racing. However, now the future does hold some hope for Pakistan to establish a presence in the international motor sports arena. With the advent last year of the A1 Grand Prix racing series also known as the Worldcup of Motorsport and A1 Team Pakistan’s entry into this racing series, there is now an avenue for Pakistani drivers to also showcase their skills and compete with the best in the world.
In addition to Pakistan’s entry into A1 GP karting, which is the stepping-stone of motor sports and racing leagues such as Formula 1 and A1 Grand Prix, has also arrived in a big way in Pakistan. Karting is the fastest growing sport in the world and is essential for development of aspiring racecar drivers providing them with the basic skills and experience of racing needed to move on to the higher tiers of international motor sport. Two years ago Abdul Wahid established the First Karting Center on the outskirts of Karachi, a karting track of international standard. The First Karting Center has provided the young racing enthusiasts with the first and only motor sport facility in Pakistan to learn, develop and improve their racing skills.
Team Xtreme Velocity was formed to participate in the inaugural 12- hour karting grand prix at the First Karting Center on Feb 14th, 2004. This race was a 12-hour endurance event participated in by 12 other teams. Since then Team Xtreme Velocity’s members have put in on average 1-2 hours per week training, racing, and honing their karting skills. In addition drivers of Team Xtreme Velocity hold the lap record for the fastest lap on all the different configurations of the track at the First Karting Center. Team Xtreme Velocity has gone on to become the premier karting team of Pakistan comprising undoubtedly the most talented and most experienced kart racers in the country. All their drivers have over two years of experience in karting both locally and internationally.
On the sun baked asphalt on May 4th- - 5th 2006 Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan a team of 8 Pakistani racecar drivers took the initial step into international auto racing by participating in a grueling 18-hour, 1000 km endurance karting race in Dubai. This was the first time that a team of Pakistani drivers has participated in an international karting race of this level and of this magnitude and that too on CIK approved race circuit The event was the first race of the Dubai Endurance Karting Championship 06-07, which is made up of a total of three races, two of the races are 1000km races and one is a 24-hour race. The final two races are to be held later in the year. The championship is being held at Kartodrome of the brand new, state of the art Dubai Autodrome that is a 100 million US dollar motor sport facility. It is the same facility where the Dubai round of the A1 GP was held in December 2005.
Invited to participate by the management of the Dubai Autodrome Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan was the only team representing Pakistan in this championship. Financially supported by generous funding from their main sponsors TV ONE and TCS and co-sponsored by Jahangir Siddiqui Group, Air Blue, First Capital Equity Limited, AKD Investment Management Limited and Shell Helix Motor Oil Pakistan. Team Xtreme Velocity had also formed a media partnership with TV ONE giving them exclusive rights for covering the team’s performance in the race in Dubai and during the practice and trial sessions at the First Karting Center prior to their departure for the race, which will be televised soon.
After holding extensive trials over a 2-week period at the First Karting Center the team was finalized with 8 of the best drivers available. The team captained by founder and driver Syed Ovais Naqvi was ably led by team principal Zahid Siddiqui and managed by Juned Sani also the marketing manager of the First Karting Center. The other members of the team included Adnan Sarwar, Mohsin Ikram, Shahzad Khokhar, Rashid Siddiqui, and Faisal Haque.
The 1.2 Km track was incredibly challenging requiring immense skill from the drivers. It consisted of 45-degree inclines and declines along with a bridge and a tunnel and 17 corners with 3 complete breaking 180-degree hairpins and a double “s” chicane. With a full fuel tank lasting two hours it was essential that each driver drive for at least 2 hours non-stop before making a pit stop for refueling and driver change. While in a race being fast is the key, there are other more subtle aspects which need to be very finely tuned otherwise being fast can amount to nothing. These include stamina, being physically fit to drive two hours non-stop at least 3 times in a 24-hour period by each driver in a race suit in such heat requires great fitness levels. Then consistency plays a big role during a race its no good to be very fast in one lap and then have slow lap times in the rest a good driver needs to display consistently fast lap times to be able to win. Lastly the most important aspect is skill, skill in catching up to the cars in front, keeping up with those cars, knowing when, how and where to overtake, and then knowing how to keep a car behind. The track and race conditions ensured that the skills, stamina, speed, and consistency of the drivers was pushed and tested to the limits.
The atmosphere was festive with 18 teams and 180 drivers from around the world and a 24-hour DJ keeping adding to the noise of the engines. The facilities were luxurious with a driver’s lounge, a free gourmet 24 hour dining hall for the drivers including free unlimited bottled water and red bull for the non-driving team members and free massages for the drivers.
In the scorching, desert heat of Dubai on a track on which none of them had any previous experience and on karts, which were faster and lighter than the ones they have practiced on in Karachi Team Xtreme Velocity, put in a performance to do its country and sponsors proud. The 17 other teams were either professional karting teams from the Middle East and Europe or then comprised of professional race drivers who are currently competing in different formula around the world such as Formula BMW.
The racing itself was intense, and fast with lots of overtaking and wheel-to-wheel racing.
After qualifying in 12th position Team Xtreme Velocity had fought their way into the top ten by the end of the first four hours of racing. However as the raced progressed three of their drivers broke down physically due to the race conditions and lack of experience racing in such a competitive and demanding environment. Due to those unfortunate incidents Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan had to make extra pit stops that pushed them back down the order to 16th position. At that point two of the teams drivers Syed Ovais Naqvi and Adnan Sarwar rose to the occasion to drive with great skill and determination for six hours each (out of a total of 18 hours) in three sessions of two hours non-stop fighting wheel to wheel with some of the top professional racers in the region and were very commendably supported by Shhazad Khokhar, Juned Sani, Mohsin Ikram and Zahid Siddiqui to push the team back up the order. As the race neared its conclusion Team Xtreme Velocity had climbed up to be only thirty seconds behind the 12th placed team pushing hard to close that gap and gain that spot but soon the checkered flag was waved and the race came to its end. Out of 18 teams that participated Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan finished in 13th position and could have had a top 10 finish had 3 of their drivers not broken down.
However, given the circumstances and coming from a country with no history of auto racing and no culture of professional motor sports for a first time ever participation in an international event of this caliber it was a great performance by Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan. This was evidenced by the fact that out of the 18 teams that competed in the race the top three teams were given prizes and trophies and only one other team, which was Team Xtreme Vecloity Pakistan, was given a special prize and trophy by the race organizers in recognition for a very commendable and competitive performance.
Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan now have 28 points after the first race and the team that finished first has 50 points. With two more races remaining the championship is still wide open and there is a lot to be fought for. If Team Xtreme Velocity can perform a little better it has a good shot at being amongst the top 10 teams in the entire championship and that would be a great achievement for the team and the country. The next race is in November lets support Pakistan’s first international karting team.
Overall it proved to be a great learning experience for Team Xtreme Velocity Pakistan competing against top international racers from around the world. This performance of Team Xtreme Velocity shows that Pakistan has the drivers with skills and potential who if given the right exposure and experience to race at the internantional level will not only prove to be extremely competitive but also go on to become top professional race drivers in the world