Ebrahim targeting top three finish despite early season woes

Following his Pro-Am title with Sri Lankan teammate Dilantha Malagamuwa in 2016, Ebrahim stepped up to the Pro category this year with renowned sportscar squad, FFF Racing.

While a move to a professional outfit, on paper, should have allowed Ebrahim to fight for the overall crown, a series of technical issues have left him with a massive deficit to top guns with two rounds to spare.

An electrical glitch put his car on safe mode during pitstops in Thailand, while a broken driveshaft and differential left him at the back of the grid in Japan.

Despite the technical troubles that have plagued the first half of his 2017 campaign, the 27-year-old remains upbeat about the remainder of the season, drawing inspiration from the two podiums he has scored so far.

“If you look at it, the gap [to the front] is quite big right now, so we’ll be realistic,” Ebrahim told Motorsport.com.

“Last year, we won the championship. But this year, honestly, I don’t think we can go for number one. We should try in finish in the top three.

“We’ll take it race by race from now and just do the best we can and finish in the top three, score points as high as we can consistently."

He added: “We’ve had a few problems but we also had some strong races where we finished on the podium.

“We’ve got another half of the season left. So hopefully, we can update what we are running right now and improve the chassis a bit. Then we can find a lot more time.”

Blancpain Asia drive budget-dependent

Blancpain GT Series - both Endurance and Sprint - is one of the top sportscar championships in the world. It attracts some of the best drivers and GT3 cars in the business.

Earlier this year, organisers SRO launched an Asian edition of the championship, opening up new avenues for racing drivers in this part of the world.

Aditya Patel has already grabbed eyeballs in the series, having won the opening round of the season in Malaysia.

But Ebrahim says the chances of him joining countryman Patel next season are still up in the air, as he is unsure whether he can procure enough budget to land a competitive drive.

“Obviously, the offers are always there to move to Blancpain. But it’s all to do with your budget and I’m trying to find that budget,” he explained.

“It depends wherever you get a competitive driver or not. Whether it’s Blancpain GT Asia or Japanese GT [Super GT], there’s no point doing if you’re uncompetitive. It’s too early to say but I’m always looking at options.”