Indian racing prodigy Atiqa Mir capped a stellar run at the WSK Super Masters with a commendable eighth place out of 53 drivers in the Round 5 final, ending her campaign in the premier karting series as the highest-placed female.
At the beginning of 2026, she voluntarily switched from the mini category (8-12 years) to the junior category (12-14) and showed her special talent throughout the five-round series.
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Racing in the OK-NJ class, Atiqa, the first Indian to be supported by the Formula 1 Academy, achieved one podium, two fastest laps, eight top 6 finishes and a brilliant second place finish in one of the qualifiers during the WSK Championship and the European leg of the COTFA series.
Apart from being the highest ranked woman in the WSK series, she was also the top Indian rider.
The racer from Jammu and Kashmir had a fair share of bad luck on the way, which deprived her of another place on the podium.
In its final weekend of the series, Atiqa set the seventh fastest time in qualifying, which was just 10 seconds off P3, highlighting the fierce competition.
She took P5, P4 and P5 in the heats and showed remarkable speed and consistency against the world’s best riders.
Atiqa placed sixth out of 53 riders and started third in the pre-final. She produced a remarkable start to move into second place, but was pushed off the track by a rider at turn four, denying her a front row start for the final.
She was 13th on the grid in the final, but at one stage worked her way through the field to seventh before finishing a respectable 8th.
The race weekend reaffirmed Atiqa’s status as a leading driver in the go-kart world who can challenge and even beat the best.
She made her OK-NJ debut in January on the La Conca bike. At just 11 years old, Atiqa was one of the youngest and least experienced riders in Italian conditions.
Despite the challenges, she showed her incredible speed and topped qualifying as Mercedes Junior Nicolo Perico.
The final round at Franciacorta saw Atiqa come of age as she put together a clean weekend with top 5 finishes in all heats.
Reflecting on her WSK campaign, Atiqa said: “I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to drive in such a prestigious series. I have been karting non-stop for the last 8 weeks at a very high level and have been able to adapt and adapt to so many firsts.
“I learned a lot and I’m a better driver today than when I started in January. I had my best race weekend here in Franciacorta until this driver pushed me off the track and got a penalty for it. But it was still a good race and my best goal here in P8 on the road. I want to thank my sponsor RAISE for making it happen.”
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
31 March 2026 15:27 IST
