After a strong first season in British Formula 3, Enaam Ahmed is looking to build on his 2016 successes and says, ahead of the season opener in Cheshire, that “the goal heading to Oulton Park is simply to win.”
“Everything is going really, really well and the team have put a lot of effort into making sure I am as ready as I can possibly be,” Ahmed said with the reassurance of a driver who has already taken to the top step of the podium in British Formula 3 last year.
After graduating to the UK’s premier single-seater series in 2016, Ahmed impressed throughout with Douglas Motorsport despite being the youngest driver on the grid to complete a full campaign. Having taken two podiums and one win across the first three races, the Brit left Snetterton as the championship leader. He couldn’t maintain a consistent title challenge but scored numerous other top-three finishes as he ended the year fifth in the overall standings.
Having joined Carlin for the Autumn Trophy, Ahmed showed both speed and maturity to claim the crown and now heads into the new season as one of the title favourites. However, the 17-year-old isn’t getting carried away and knows he will face stiff competition if he wants to follow in Matheus Leist’s footsteps to be crowned British F3 Champion. “I think it is going to be really, really tough this year. Last year was the first year with the new car so it was a learning experience for everyone. Now however, everyone is experienced with the car and that is why it is going to be so close. All the teams have been extremely close in testing so I think everyone has a really good understanding of it and the different set-ups.”
Ahmed was at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium for two days of testing last week and believes both the team and his stable-mates, James Pull and Cameron Das, are working well together. He said: “Spa was really good. We have a lot left in the tank as we were just focusing on ourselves and doing our own thing. We have a really good team. We have a load of really good engineers and Trevor Carlin has put together a great team for BRDC British F3. He really cares about the championship so we’ve got some really good engineers to work with. Me, James and Cameron are getting on really well together and learning lots off each other. I think it is going really well.”
Ahmed has been busy off track too, recently passing his driving test having turned 17 barely one month ago. “I take a lot of care on the roads! I was really pleased to pass my test relatively quickly and now I can be a lot more independent, and get to the tracks myself. It is good.”
With just under 25 days to go before the opening round of the season at Oulton Park on Easter Weekend, the teenager is busy with his final preparations for the campaign ahead. “We are at Rockingham for two days this week and I’ll also be working on my fitness. I’ve been going to the workshop quite a lot too. As a team we are very strong, we get on really well and we all want to win as badly as each other. It is maximum attack!”
The 2017 BRDC British Formula 3 season gets underway at Oulton Park on April 15-17.
Comments
