19. A 6-year-old thrills the nation

Sam Borden is the author of this astonishing story of Rashid al-Dhaheri, a 6-year-old from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The article is introduced with the description of a fine morning in the UAE, where Borden and Rashid race each other. Rashid was inspired to become a racer when his dad took him to his very first Formula One race, where he spent most of the three days admiring the Ferraris. That was in 2011, and since then, Rashid's father, Ali, has invested in his son's gigantic dream. By the time he was four, Rashid, also known as Little Alonso (after the racing star), had a personal racing coach. He also won various youth go-kart races, and is quite popular in his area. The author claims that, despite the fact that Rashid is still a child and is only in the first grade, he has obvious talent. Last year the young racer was able to attend a karting circuit in Italy. The boy's father also assured Borden that he is not worried for his son's safety, since the government put a motor capacity restriction for certain ages. The author closes the article with a quote from the boy's coach, Paul Chatenay. He claims that Rashid has an advantage in starting earlier, and in a sport where a  hundredth of a second makes a difference, the boy might just make it. 

The author writes as if he were telling a story, quoting the amazing 6-year-old and explaining the boy's short back round story. Borden's tone is relaxed and friendly throughout his writing, even though much detail and research was put into the story. His experiences in visiting and meeting the boy face to face also contributes to the reality of the facts, causing the writing to be much more believable. The tone is light and exciting, since the main spotlight is on a child who has great potential. Altogether Borden does a great job of introducing a future racer that may possible become very famous. The research also proves the reliability of the details, causing the article to be trustworthy overall. Although the author gives statistics for the boys future, he makes a clear statement that his success is by no means guaranteed. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/sports/autoracing/rashid-al-dhaheri-a-precocious-driver-at-6-builds-a-following-in-the-united-arab-emirates.html?WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-78916-01-24-HD&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=