Young driver another step closer to his dreams

14 year-old Zubair Hoque invited to top-drivers’ shootout in Spain by BMW Formula Motorsport.

14 year-old Zubair Hoque, from Hale, in Cheshire, is one of only 3 drivers from the UK to be invited to the BMW Motorsport facility in Valencia, Spain to receive coaching from BMW Formula Motorsport division’s top instructors. Many famous drivers, including the current Formula One world champion, Sebastian Vettel, learnt their trade at the very same place.

As well as receiving coaching, Zubair will be competing with some of the best drivers in the world, aged 14 to 18, for the chance to drive as one of BMW’s drivers in the Formula BMW Talent Cup, in special junior-spec cars derived from Formula 3 racing.

Even in this spec, the cars can hit speeds of up to 150mph. The talented young racer has been racing since the age of 8 and has already made an impression within the motorsport industry, achieving impressive results in national and European competitions and holding lap speed records on several tracks. In his first year of competition in the Formula Kartstars karting championship, he finished an incredible 4th, being the highest ranked rookie driver.

In the same year, he finished 8th overall in the Super 1 British Karting championship, again being the highest ranked rookie in the competition. In the last two years he has been invited to receive awards from many of his heroes, including Formula One world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and British Touring Car champion Jason Plato.

Zubair said: “As a driver you always dream of the next step and to have the chance to learn from the legendary instructors from BMW Motorsport is just unbelievable! I just hope that I don’t disappoint them.” Zubair has always been an incredibly focussed driver but consistently performing and remaining dedicated to the sport is not easy – Formula Kart racing is extremely demanding and requires participants to be in top physical and mental shape.

In 2010, he competed in 13 races all over the UK and Europe, with each race meeting taking 3 days. This punishing schedule has only been possible with a very supportive family and school behind him.

Zubair’s father, Mashukul, says “I am still amazed at how committed Zubair is to achieving his targets; it is not unusual to see him bruised and battered at the end of a race. I also think he is an incredible role model for youngsters and it just goes to show what can be achieved when you put your mind to it”.

Mike Yau, General Manager at Daytona Karting Manchester,where Zubair learnt his craft as  an eager 8 year-old, says: “Zubair is an outstanding young driver and we are delighted he is doing so well. He is among the elite of young drivers who we’ve seen display exceptional talent. “As well as being an excellent driver, he possesses other qualities needed to succeed in the world of motor racing – dedication, determination, personality and, of course, the confidence to succeed. We look forward to keeping an eye on his future career and are proud to be able to say that he started out at Daytona Manchester.”