KARACHI, Dec 17: Pakistan’s young karting sensation Kazeem Manzur will be making his single seater motor racing debut in the 2008 Formula BMW Europe championship, Dawn learnt here on Monday.
The sixteen-year-old Kazeem, who enjoyed a fantastic debut season in the pinnacle series of karting KF1, has dazzled the karting world with his succession of wins, podiums and fastest laps in the Italian Open Masters, European Championships and French Open Championships in the past few months.
He was unique in making the leap from ICA-Junior straight to KF1, as normally a driver would spend a season competing in KF2 before moving to KF1. Kazeem, at fifteen, became the youngest driver in the history of karting to make the podium in an international KF1 (Old Formula A) CIK approved race in 2007.
In advance of his transition to single seater racing, Kazeem has tested with the Josef Kaufmann Racing team over the last three months. He is overjoyed that he impressed the team enough for them to have offered him this highly coveted drive ahead of a number of seasoned Formula BMW drivers.
Josef Kaufmann Racing was founded in 1982 when the former driver set up a team which specialised in Formula Three, with success from the likes of Gerhard Berger, Volker Weidler and Frank Biela. In 2002 the team entered the inaugural Formula BMW German (ADAC) Championship in 2002 and has enjoyed continued success, including two championship victories with Nico Hulkenburg, who won at his first attempt in 2005, and with Christian Vietoris the following season.
The team has also excelled in the Formula BMW World Finals, with three podium finishes in a row. Christian Vietoris won the final in 2006 and Marco Wittmann achieved a superb second place in 2007.
Kazeem Manzur has raced in karting with Chiesa Corse for the last three years. Dino Chiesa, Chiesa Corse Team Owner, commented: “I am delighted that Kazeem has taken the next step in his racing career and decided to race in Formula BMW Europe next year. I am sure that he will arrive in F1.”
This new championship is a merger of the UK and German Formula BMW Championships and will see seven of its eight rounds hosted as a support race to European rounds of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.
It is anticipated that the series will provide the ideal platform for young drivers to learn their craft on circuits used in higher formulae through to Formula One, and for them to display their talents on a regular basis to the most influential people in motorsport.