KARACHI, Nov 2: One of Pakistan’s brightest hopes on international racing circuit, Syed Ovais Naqvi will be commencing his professional racing career by participating in round 1 of the Formula Thunder Arabia in Bahrain, it was learnt on Friday.

Ovais will be proudly flying the Pakistan flag at the world-renowned Bahrain International Circuit, home of the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

The first and the only Pakistani driver to compete in the Formula Thunder Arabia, which will be held on Saturday (today) Ovais will be featuring amongst a field of 20 young, rising international race-car drivers from around the world.

Formula Thunder Arabia is an entry-level single-seater racing series renowned for providing some of the most spectacular open wheel racing in the world.

Formula Thunder Arabia has proved itself over the last three years to be one of the premier training grounds for aspiring Formula 1 drivers and has provided the ideal springboard for numerous talented drivers to transition from karting to professional racing.

“The Formula Thunder Arabia is a great series to start my professional racing career,” said Ovais in an interview prior to the event. “It’s held at a Formula One circuit and the competition is very tough as it has top racers from around the world.”

Over the past three years Ovais has gained invaluable experience in karting around the world including the karting center in Karachi, the Revzone Motorsport Park at Gharo, the F1 Boston Karting Center in the US, the Dubai Autodrome and the Jebel Ali Karting Center in the UAE. He also led the Xtreme Velocity Racing team in two of the 24-hour races inn the Dubai Endurance Karting Championship last June.—Agencies