Undertaking his car racing debut in what has widely been regarded as the most competitive Finals Series (formerly the Winter Series) in the category’s history, the 16-year-old karting graduate was the only single-seater rookie and the youngest driver on the near-capacity 29-car grid at Snetterton (5/6 November) and Rockingham (12 November).
Joining Formula Renault UK’s Fortec Motorsports for his maiden campaign, Shahaan surprised the paddock in his maiden qualifying session with the eighth fastest time driving in inclement rainy conditions. He finished five out of six races without any incident and in the last race retired on the 14th lap in 9th place when he hit a damp patch whilst racing on slicks. When a wiring loom issue foiled his qualifying chances for rounds three and four he fought back from 26th to finish 12th gaining 14 positions in each of the two races on his second day of racing in a car.
“I’ve learned so much in the past two weeks,” added the young driver, “from my first couple of starts in the rain and the dry, on slicks and on wets to the red flag and safety car experiences and of course … my first yellow flag penalty. I really enjoyed the overtaking and defending my line as well …. the race is just over but I am ready to get back into the seat tomorrow.”
To put the formidable challenge he faced into perspective, one could note that every other driver in the series had experience from other categories such as formula BMW, formula Ford, and Renault BARC, UK and Eurocup, with between one and four years experience except for Shahaan who was inducted by Fortec Motorsports directly into this series.
Team owner Richard Dutton commented: “Shahaan did an amazing job and showed true race spirit in his first few races in a race car, we look forward to continue into 2012 with him and see what he can show us.”
Perhaps most impressive of all though is the fact in 12 days of testing and racing in challenging, wet weather Shahaan incurred no damage whatsoever to his car – proving his terrific natural car control and tremendous awareness on circuit.
The chief aim over the past two weekends has been to maximize track time and to learn the starts and racecraft. In doing all of that with a commitment and maturity of a driver of far senior years …
Catch Shahaans race results under the calendar section at www.shahaan.com
