Last weekend, Dubai Autodrome saw the crowning of a new champion at the UAE’s national single-seater championship Formula Gulf 1000. Tejas Hirani, age 16 from Kenya, is the name to remember.
“It was very, very good series, a great racing experience if you’re moving into formula cars, formula racing,” said Hirani, who took up go-karting at age 9. “I learnt so many things like steering angles, break pressures. It was a very good season, I won eight races out of 14 and was on the podium every race, so I was very happy with myself that I won the championship.”
He first drove in Dubai four years ago, and took up formula racing a year ago. Fellow driver Tom Bale helped out with some contacts.
Hirani said that the constant travelling had no real effect on him physically, though it did present a logistical issue.
“It’s not that difficult because it’s only one hour time difference; Dubai is one hour ahead of Kenya,” he said. “It’s just the costs of getting there and getting back. It’s very costly.”
Gulf Sport Racing’s FG1000 series is a winter competition driving school and uses two professional driver coaches to mentor the young drivers: Thomas Erdos, a veteran of 13 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Andy Pardoe, who has coached many top drivers during a 25-year career.
As the final two races beckoned last Friday, Hirani led the standings by 10 points over Ahmed Al Ghanem of Kuwait with Saudi Arabia’s Mashhur Bal Hejaila fighting with another Kuwaiti, Yousef Al Bader, for third.
Despite the pressure, Hirani said he enjoyed the challenges.
“Ahmed from Kuwait and Mashur from Saudi, they put a lot pressure on me,” he said, “but it was quite good fun.”
There was, however, one obstacle he could not have foreseen on the eve of the final two races. “I was very nervous, there was a sandstorm on Thursday, which was practice day, so we didn’t get any practice,” he said.
“I was wondering what’s going to happen in the race. Then we found out they changed the layout of the track. I was quite confident because when we did the pre-season testing I was the quickest here, I had high confidence before the race and this motivated me.”
Hirani duly won the first race, beating Bal Hejaila. This meant he only needed to finish in the second race to be crownedchampion. He won that for good measure, too, beating Al Ghanem for a perfect score on the season’s final day.
“In the beginning I was speechless, it didn’t really hit me until later on,” Hirani said.
“It proved to me that all the hard work that I put into my races pays off at the end. I was really happy, I was so excited I was speechless.”
Having a championship win on his CV is important for Hirani’s future professional racing prospects, but the triumph has also opened new doors for Hirani. He take part in simulator training and F3 testing for Spanish GP2 and GP3 team and series partner, Campos Racing. The future looks bright.
“I’m very looking forward to that,” he said. “The car looks amazing I saw some pictures on the internet. And then I have my local races as well.”
As for his long-term ambitions, the answer was as quick as it was easy.
“My biggest ambition is to be a world champion,” Hirani said. “It doesn’t matter, it just has to be four wheels and an amazing track, and I just want to be a world champion.”
akhaled@thenational.ae
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