Top seven finish best result of penultimate event
Shahaan Engineer enjoyed his strongest and most competitive event of the 2012 Toyota Racing Series so far at Hampton Downs in New Zealand over the weekend, 4th/5th February, with a best result of seventh place in the second of three races.
While race two delivered the best result of the weekend, seventh from 13th on the grid, the headline encounter which rounded off the event, the 20-lap New Zealand Motor Cup, should have provided another top 10 finish – ninth to be precise.
However, an on-going battle between two drivers just in front of Shahaan, at the exit of turn nine on the final lap, resulted in the pair crashing and forced the young ETEC Motorsport driver to take avoiding action through the gravel.
Race one on Saturday afternoon was quite a sedate affair with Shahaan, and the majority of the rest of the top 15, all finishing where they started – in his case, 13th position. His race two result of seventh place was the best of the weekend of course but the tenacity and ability displayed in race three was a highlight.
ETEC race engineer Michael Olsen commented: “This has been the best week so far for Shahaan in the TRS, there has been a huge improvement in his technique, pace, consistency and mindset. Although we’re happy with the seventh place in race two, and we know the race three incident did lose Shahaan several positions, what’s more important is the learning and progress and the way he conducted himself throughout the weekend.
“There were two Safety Car periods, lots of blocking and overtaking, and he then did a great job of avoiding a high-speed collision in front of him. Shahaan showed great presence of mind to calmly get back on the circuit out of the gravel, against the odds, and still take home some respectable points.”
Of the 12 races contested so far in the Toyota Racing Series, the soon-to-be UK domiciled driver has posted 11 finishes with improving pace and consistency against a highly rated competition-base featuring racers with experience of Formula 3, GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5. Furthermore, the rookie hasn’t been involved in a single red flag incident in any of the 24 practice sessions so far.
