Enaam dreams of Indy 500 glory

There are some who only dream, and then there are others who make them a reality, and Enaam Ahmed can be categorised as the latter.

How? He not only drove in a high-speed Freedom 90 race at the Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, but did it all the while suffering from food poisoning. If that wasn’t crazy-enough, he also broke the lap record on the track, which he was driving on for the very first time, to shock even the native drivers who knew everything the track had to offer.

The Express Tribune asked him a few questions about his racing experience, his future goals and his message for Pakistanis pursuing a racing dream. Here’s what he said.

ET: Your brief introduction and story?

Enaam: My name is Enaam Ahmed I was born in London, England. I proudly race and represent the flag of Pakistan in the United States. I left home at a young age to become a Racing Driver on my own. At 14 I was living in Italy, then at 16 I lived in New Zealand for a few months and then at 19, I came to Tokyo, Japan for a year and raced there full time. Now at 22, my luck has taken me to the US, where I want to prove to the world that Pakistanis have the talent to surpass anyone.

ET: Describe your experience of the last race, where you drove with an illness.

Enaam: I had severe food poising so I was vomiting in the race. The doctors and my team strongly advised me not to race because I had a high fever and body chills. But I didn’t want to let my country or my team down so even though it was very difficult, I pushed my way through it. Unfortunately, I could not maintain the lead due to my health, so I ended up finishing fourth. I’m disappointed because I only like winning.

The day before, I broke the long-held track record and it was my first time at the track. All the Americans came up to me and congratulated me and were totally shocked that a guy that has never seen the track and came from a country they never heard of went out and smashed the record in two laps.

ET: What do you want to achieve in racing?

Enaam: Currently I am racing in the Road to Indy series. This leads me to my dream which is Indy Car. Indy Car is the fastest and most dangerous series in the world with the best drivers from all over the globe. In America it is huge and the Indianapolis 500 is the biggest single day sporting event in the world with 500 thousand people in the stands watching it live. I want to be the first Pakistani to win it and raise the flag in front of so many people. The top speeds of Indy Car in that race exceed 245mph and the average speed is 235mph. It is known as the fastest, most dangerous race in the world, even more than Formula 1.

ET: What is your message for Pakistanis who want to pursue a career in racing?

Enaam: Pakistan has so much unfulfilled talent which is a shame but that is something that I will change in the future. What pushes me to be the best is that I want to prove that any Pakistani, given the opportunity, can be the best in the world at anything. Even something so unusual like motorsport.

If there was one advice I would give, it would be that whatever you choose you have to live and breathe it constantly and enjoy the journey.

Enaam is currently racing in Road to Indy, which is like Formula 3 and Formula 2. If he can continue winning, he can qualify for the fabled Indy 500 race.