Giovanni Minardi, son of former Formula 1 team owner Giancarlo Minardi, was hugely impressed by the UAE’s Rashid Al Dhaheri, known in local karting circles as ‘Little Alonso’, when the six-year-old made his Italian debut.

Al Dhaheri became the first non-European youngster to be accepted into the EasyTraining programme conducted by EasyKart in Italy, and was the youngest of 22 ‘little league’ drivers who were in action for the third round of the Italian National Series at the International Circuit in Viterbo last weekend.

Making the trip to Viterbo specially to see Al Dhaheri, Giovanni said: “Sincere congratulations to Rashid. It was his first experience in wet conditions and despite his young age he has shown great talent. 

“He is proving his ability to handle difficult situations. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

Adding to the challenge for Al Dhaheri was the fact that he was driving at Viterbo for the first time.

During free practice, Al Dhaheri was consistently among the top three and set the fastest time in the second free practice session.

In the first race, on a dry track, Al Dhaheri finished third despite experiencing his first-ever rolling start in a race. 

With rain lashing down in the second race, Al Dhaheri was caught out by the unfamiliar conditions and spun on the formation lap and fell to the back of the grid.