Jaffer Confirms Indian GP Support Race Outing

Zaamin Jaffer is gearing up for unquestionably the biggest race of his career after confirming he will compete in the Formula MRF support event to next month's Indian Grand Prix - the eagerly awaited first ever visit of the FIA Formula One World Championship to the 21-year-old's homeland on 29th/30th October. Marking a huge moment in sporting, economical and tourist terms for the country as a whole, the arrival of F1 in India could also, potentially, mark a major turning point in Zaamin's burgeoning race career as the global spotlight is turned on motorsport in the subcontinent.  Normally competing in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, the Mumbai-born driver is delighted to have secured a seat in Formula MRF for the F1 support race and is aiming to make the most of the opportunity by enjoying a successful outing in front of the Grand Prix hierarchy. "Formula One's arrival in India is absolutely massive for the country", he said, "The eyes of the world will be on New Delhi and it's going to be a very proud moment for me to not only race at home for the first time in my career, but to be doing so on a Grand Prix weekend for the first time too. I really can't wait - it's going to be huge." Zaamin, who is based in Milton Keynes while racing in the UK, was in action in his regular FR 2.0 car last weekend at Thruxton in Hampshire for the penultimate two rounds of the 2011 Formula Renault BARC season. Despite some serious misfortune, namely a huge accident in the first of the two races, he bounced back superbly in the second encounter to record a well deserved top 10 finish. Battling hard on the fringe of the top 10 in the opener, round nine, Zaamin was the unfortunate and completely blameless victim when a driver ahead locked-up at the chicane and got out of shape on the exit. Moving to the right to get out of the way of another car and then cutting back to the left on the straight, the slowed FR 2.0 then made contact with Zaamin and pitched his car into the pitwall. Forcing an immediate and obvious retirement, the Hillspeed team faced a huge challenge to repair Zaamin's car in time for round 10 with only three hours between both races. In the end, a superb effort enabled the Active PR-backed driver to not only take part in the race but to battle through to 10th place even though his car was far from ideally set-up due to the time constraints. "Testing went well at Thruxton and I had high hopes after that but qualifying wasn't so good so we had to work hard in the races", explained Zaamin, "In the first race I wasn't that happy with the car on new tyres, we had quite a bit of understeer and I did take a couple of hits early on. We were on course for getting into the top 10 though but then (Jack) Dex wiped me out and put me in the wall. "There wasn't time to flat-patch the car so there was no set-up on it for race two, the corner weights were out and it was locking-up but the team did a great job to even get me in the race. In terms of pace, it wasn't that bad actually - to take 10th place was as good as we could have hoped for." Zaamin's debut season of Formula Renault competition will come to a conclusion five weeks from now over the weekend 15th/16th October at Silverstone in Northamptonshire. For the first time this year, the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship will receive live television coverage in the UK as the category will be joining the support bill of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Provisional 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship Standings (after Rd10): 10th Zaamin Jaffer, 105pts

Related Motorsport Articles

84,521 articles