The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : It was good to do well: Armaan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005

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Sport - Racing : Motor

It was good to do well: Armaan

Sports Reporter

Chennai: Just 16, Armaan Ebrahim is beginning to follow the path travelled by Indian F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan. Fresh off a podium finish in the season-ending BMW championship race in Shanghai, Ebrahim spoke to newsmen after a felicitation function on Tuesday.

"A lot of major people from F1 were watching, so it was good to do well," said Armaan about finishing second in Shanghai. The teenager from Chennai was the youngest to receive a BMW scholarship in January this year and is the second driver for Team India — managed by father Akbar — in the A1 GP.

Armaan said he had gotten used to higher-powered car in the A1 GP. "It's a big jump (from BMW championships), but the last practice I almost had the same time as my teammate Karun (Chandok) despite the track being dusty when I drove." The youngster, who will soon take his 12th standard exams privately, said his performances so far had answered criticism of him being too young to do well in motor sports.

Armaan said he got back to karting whenever he could because "it keeps the reflexes sharp and most big drivers have come from there." He thanked Narain Karthikeyan ("What can I say? He's helped me a lot.") and LG Sports (the organisation that fuelled his success, and felicitated him) for the support he's received through the years.

When asked if he would break into F1 soon, Armaan said: "I realistically don't (think so). Obviously that's the goal but I want to do well at what I am doing now."

On what he planned to do in the next season, Armaan said, "It depends on the budget. If I have the budget, I'd like to do F3. And there's A1."

The Indian driver is off to Portugal for the third round of the A1 GP. In December, he will take part in the BMW finals, which pits the best young drivers of the world against each other.

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