Valencia, Mar 2: Racing prodigy Atiqa Mir has created history by becoming the first Indian to secure a podium finish in the highly-competitive European leg of the COTFA karting series.

The 11-year-old finished third in the final of the opening round in the Champions of the Future Academy (COTFA) series. The result over the weekend was also Atiqa’s biggest success since moving from the mini to the OKNJ (junior) category.

Atiqa is the first Indian to be supported by the F1 Academy, a testament to her special talent. Throughout the weekend, Atiqa was in top form and also recorded the fastest lap in the final.

She was on course to get pole position but encountered a slow driver in the last corner on her flying lap, pushing her down to ninth on the grid. Determined to get back to the front, Atiqa stormed to P3 in Race 1 and P2 in Race 2, setting her up for a third place start in the Final Race.

The 15-lap race in the final was a true test of strength and stamina on the super fast Lucas Guerrero Circuit. Atiqa held second place at the start and had a long battle with the leading pack.

On the final lap, Atiqa made an audacious move on the second-placed driver around the outside of the infamous chicane at the last corner. She held off the challenge to secure a second place on track, a record finish for an Indian in the Europe leg of the series.

A post-race penalty dropped her to the third spot on the podium.

On day two of the weekend, Atiqa was again held back by a slow driver on her flying lap during qualifying. Her theoretical time was good enough for pole position but she had to settle for seventh on the grid.

In Race 1, Atiqa was pushed off the circuit before recovering to finish 9th. In Race 2, she zoomed to a special victory, only to be denied by a post race penalty for contact with another driver.

Despite her fair share of bad luck, Atiqa was able to produce head-turning performances through the weekend.

“That was a great race. Really tough pace at the front and I could manage to fight till the last corner. I took a risk in the last corner going for the move as I didn’t want to settle for a third place finish.

“Like the great Ayrton Senna said if you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a racing driver. It was risky but it paid off. I’m happy to have the India flag at the podium and a proud moment for me and the country,” said Atiqa.

Atiqa’s father Asif Mir, who is India’s first national karting champion, also reflected on a successful weekend.

“An outstanding performance in her debut in OKNJ race in this series. She had only few sessions to adapt to the circuit which she had never driven before in a Junior kart.

“She had good speed but missed the top spot due to the post race penalty. I don’t mind that as long as she makes overtakes like that,” Asif Mir added.

Baramulla, Mar 2: More than 15 years after its announcement, the construction of the pavilion at the General Bipin Rawat Stadium in Baramulla remains incomplete, with only partial underground concrete work completed and the site now abandoned.

Officials said the project was initiated around 15 years ago but has not progressed beyond the initial stage.

“So far, only the underground concrete structure has been completed. At present, the project is unattended,” an official said.

A former official of the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council said the project was sanctioned during the tenure of former Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Lateef-uz-Zaman Deva.

“An amount of Rs 50 lakh was released initially, with assurances that the remaining funds would be arranged by the administration,” the official said.

The execution of the project was assigned to the Roads and Buildings Department, and an advance of Rs 50 lakh was released. Tenders were floated and work commenced thereafter.

“The total estimated cost of the pavilion was Rs 1.90 crore, but work worth only about Rs 28 lakh was executed before construction was halted,” the official said, alleging that the department later adopted a “lethargic approach” towards completing the project.

He added that the Sports Council repeatedly wrote to the R&B department seeking resumption of work, but received no response.

Subsequently, the Sports Council sought the project’s design and blueprint with the intention of floating fresh tenders.

“However, there was no cooperation from the R&B department, and as a result, the project has remained stalled for years,” the official said.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, former IAS officer Lateef U Zaman Deva who served as Deputy Commissioner Baramulla during 2008-10 said the decision to construct pavilion at the erstwhile Jhelum stadium was taken to do away with disruptions faced by the Government Degree College (GDC) Baramulla as Prof Showkat Ali stadium would remain occupied every day with events.

“Prof Showkat Ali stadium belongs to GDC Baramulla. So we decided to develop that Jhelum (Bipin Rawat) Stadium,” he said.

He said during financial year 2009-2010 an amount of Rs 2.5 Crores were provided by the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

“DC was authorised to utilise the funds as per the requirement and out of that amount, some funds were earmarked for Jhelum stadium,” he informed Greater Kashmir.

District Manager of the J&K Sports Council in Baramulla, Showkat Ahmad, confirmed that the project has been defunct for nearly 15 years.

“There are certain legal issues involved. Several meetings were held with the R&B department during the tenure of former Deputy Commissioner Minga Sherpa, but no breakthrough was achieved,” he said.

Executive Engineer, R&B Department Baramulla, Mohammad Younis Shah, said he had recently taken charge and would look into the matter.

“I am not fully aware of the project details yet. I will ascertain the facts and examine why the work has not been completed,” he said.