Shahaan Engineer During His Formula Renault UK Debut At Snetterton - Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography
Shahaan Engineer put in a competitive showing during his debut in the Formula Renault UK series, the Indian racer impressing during the first weekend of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault UK Finals Series at Snetterton.
Engineer showed strong pace right from the off and on Saturday morning, the 16 year old set the eighth fastest time out of 29 competitors in his first qualifying session, though his best time was later deleted for being set when yellow flags were out.
Strong performances in the first two races, both taking place in tricky conditions, saw the Fortec Motorsport driver finish thirteenth and fourteenth. The Mumbai-born youngster continued his impressive form the next day, despite an unfortunate wiring loom issue in qualifying meaning he had to start a lowly 26th on the grid for the days two races.
Round three saw him gain eight places on a blistering opening lap, with Engineer continuing progressing through the field throughout the race, ending up in twelfth place. The final race of the weekend started in dramatic fashion, Engineer forced to go off track on the start line to avoid a stalled car ahead. Recovering back onto track, Shahaan got his head down and passed four cars on lap one, continuing his good overtaking form through the race to once again end up twelfth at the finish.
Commenting on his strong weekend, Shahaan said:“It's been a good weekend for us, I'm happy with the progress we made. We had some issues to overcome, the grid penalty on Saturday and then the wiring loom on Sunday, but the races went well and I was able to finish ahead of some really experienced guys. I've learnt a lot but there's much more to do, hopefully we can be even stronger next weekend at Rockingham.”
