Ras al Khaimah, Sep 23 (IANS): The 9-year-old female karting sensation, Atiqa Mir took a stunning pole position in the curtain raiser event, the IAME Pre-Season Cup held at RAK Track in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE in sweltering conditions.

Atiqa was in top form securing a stunning lap time of 44.77 seconds and setting an event record in the process. With the top competition of 24 karts in the event, Atiqa showed maturity as her kart did not start on the grid and she missed three laps of qualifying. She did not let this affect her performance as the team was able to fix her kart and Atiqa managed to get the crucial five laps which secured her pole position.

In the pre-final starting from the pole, Atiqa had an issue with the engine at the start and got passed by three karts. Atiqa fought hard in the race but an unfortunate penalty of three seconds dropped her down to eighth place.

Speaking about securing a pole position, Atiqa said, “This sure could be one of my highlight races. Taking a pole position which set an event record and getting a close finish at the 4th rank was the highlight of my recent race IAME Pre-Season Cup 2024.

"The race was a tough one under sweltering conditions but I managed to secure a lap time of 44.77 secs. An unfortunate penalty caused an initial setback but I managed to make a comeback with a few fast laps and finished just half a second behind the leader, missing 3rd place by just 0.05 secs! That was close! I enjoyed this race a lot, there were odds but I came around," she said.

Starting the final in the 8th place, Atiqa dropped to 11 places on Lap 1 due to a Turn 1 incident. And then she started one of the most remarkable recoveries putting a string of fastest laps and caught right back up to the leaders on the last lap. She finished just half a second behind the leader, missing 3rd place by just 0.05 secs.