Racing prodigy Atiqa Mir finishes stellar WSK stint
Indian racing prodigy Atiqa Mir capped off a stellar stint in the WSK Super Masters with a commendable eighth-place finish out of 53 drivers in the final of Round 5, ending her campaign in the premier karting series as the highest-ranked female.
Making a big voluntary switch from the mini (age 8-12) to the junior category (12-14) at the start of 2026, the 11-year-old demonstrated her special talent all through the five-round series.
Racing in the OK-NJ class, the first Indian to be supported by Formula 1 Academy, Atiqa collected one podium, two fastest laps, eight top-6 finishes and a sizzling P2 finish in one of the qualifying sessions over the course of the WSK championship and European leg of the COTFA series. Besides being the highest-ranked female in the WSK series, she was also the best Indian driver.
The racer from Jammu and Kashmir had her fair share of bad luck along the way that robbed her of more podium finishes.
In her final weekend of the series, Atiqa set the seventh fastest time in qualifying, which was just a 10th of a second away from P3, highlighting the fierce competition.
In the heat races, she finished P5, P4 and P5, showing remarkable speed and consistency against the best drivers in the world.
Atiqa was ranked sixth out of 53 drivers and started P3 for the pre-final. She made a remarkable start to move to the second spot but going into Turn 4, she was pushed off the track by a driver, denying her a front row start for the finals.
She was 13th on the grid for the final but charged through the field to be P7 at one stage before finishing a creditable 8th.
The race weekend reaffirmed Atiqa’s status as the leading driver in the world of karting who can go up against the best and even beat them. She had made her OK-NJ debut in at La Conca Round in January. At only 11 years of age, Atiqa was amongst the youngest and least experienced drivers in Italian conditions.
Despite the challenges, she showed her raw speed, out-qualifying the likes of Mercedes Junior Nicolo Perico.
The last round at Franciacorta showed that Atiqa had 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’m so grateful that I got 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 adjust and adapt to so many firsts.
“I’ve learnt a lot and am a better driver today than when I started in January. I was having my best race weekend here at Franciacorta till this driver pushed me off the track and he got a penalty for that. But nonetheless, it was a good race and my best finish here in P8 on the road. I want to thank my sponsor, RAISE for making this happen.”
