Little Alonso takes two wins out of two races at Adria Karting Raceway
Rashid Al Dhaheri, nicknamed little Alonso, started his 2015 international karting campaign in the best manner possible by winning both his races at the opening round of the Parolin Academy Championship at the Adria Karting Raceway in Italy, on Sunday [15 March].
The Abu Dhabi schoolboy, who was flying the UAE flag, was in fine form on a sunny but cool weekend in northern Italy where he battled in the category for 6 to 8 year olds, of which he was the only non-European driver of the 19 that lined up on the grid.
Nevertheless Al Dhaheri adapted well to the challenge, amassing impressive 360 kilometers on track and testing no less than 40 different setup configurations in the build-up to race day.
In the first heat the Emirati prodigy started from third on the grid, and was soon in command of proceedings, taking the lead early where he stayed to the chequered flag.
In Heat 2 his task was tougher as reverse order grid saw him start from 17th, but this failed to deter Al Dhaheri and rather inspired him to deliver a faultless performance which resulted in his second victory on the day.
Team manager Fausto Ippoliti summed up the weekend: “I am really satisfied about the weekend, we worked on the chassis and improved the set up gradually.”
“Once again Rashid’s lines were close to the perfection, and in the end he did two intelligent races, with clean overtaking which enabled him to ease ahead of the chasing pack.”
“He was very fast and consistent. Congratulations to him. It is a nice reward after the months of winter training,” added Ippoliti.
Al Dhaheri will return to Italy for Round 2 of the Parolin Academy Championship at South Garda Track in Lonato, on the weekend 10-12 April.
Rashid’s remaining 2015 race dates are below:
12 April – Lonato, Italy Parolin Championship
2-3 May – Lignano, Italy Parolin Championship
31 May – Jesolo, Italy Parolin Championship
14 June – Viterbo, Italy ROK South Championship
20-21 June – Siena, Italy Parolin Championship
5 July – Lonato, Italy ROK North Championship
19 July – Siena, Italy ROK North Championship
26 July – Sarno, Italy ROK South Championship
2 August – Adria, Italy ROK North Championship
6 September- Adria, Italy ROK North/South Championship
27 September – Lonato, Italy Parolin Championship
4 or 11 October – TBC, Italy Parolin Championship
18 October – Adria, Italy Parolin Championship