Bahrain karting challenge heats up

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Email: hussainm@newsobahrain.com

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, hosted a hotly contested second round in the 2024/2025 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC) over the weekend. Karters lit up the track at BIC’s world-class grassroots motorsport facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), where the racing intensified as the wheel-to-wheel battles of the new campaign resumed.

Four drivers, namely Tariq Soofi, Nasser Nass, Tye Mejia, and Mohammed Almahroos, registered back-to-back victories in their respective competition categories, continuing their strong starts to the season. Tariq was once again triumphant in the Micro MAX class, Nasser won in the Junior MAX, Mejia in the Senior MAX, and Almahroos in the DD2 Masters. Also climbing to the top of their podiums were Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa in the Mini MAX category, and Oliver Kruglov in the MAX DD2.

The BRMC is one of the region’s leading national karting championships, featuring participants of all ages and nationalities battling it out in Rotax-powered machinery. The series is organised and run by BIC and BIKC, in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, Bahrain Karting Commission, and Motorsport Marshals Club.

The title winners at the end of the championship will each get the incredible opportunity to represent Bahrain at the annual Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals – one of the most prestigious annual karting events in the world. In this past weekend’s Micro MAX final, young Tariq took his win in style with over a five-second gap from his closest challenger Abdulaziz Alsarraf.

Tariq had a finishing time of nine minutes 28.775 seconds after nine laps, while Rashid Almahroos joined the month e podium in third place. Tariq’s triumph capped a sensational outing in this round as he also won the pre-final, captured pole position in qualifying, and set the pace during free practice. In the Mini MAX category, Shaikh Ahmed claimed an outright victory, leading from the start all the way to the chequered flag. He completed the nine-lap sprint in 9:03.514 – finishing 2.751s ahead of pre-final winner Jude Andrews.

Austin Gray came third 5.742s behind, while round one winner Rayyan Najjar took fourth place 6.232s back. Jude had pipped Shaikh Ahmed to first place in the pre-final by a mere 0.065s, but in qualifying and free practice, it was Shaikh Ahmed who topped the timesheets. In the Junior MAX class, Nasser was the winner after maintaining his place in the front the entire 15 laps.

He took the chequered flag in 13:53.540, beating runner-up Demir Abali by 1.438s. Leopold Juch was not far behind in third, claiming the final podium spot 1.997s adrift. Nasser had also claimed the pre-final, but Leopold clinched pole in qualifying while Demir was the pace-setter in free practice.

The Senior MAX division once again boasted the largest grid, and it was Mejia who powered to first place in the final with a dominant drive. H e stormed to the lead in the second lap and held on until the very end to win in 13:40.269 after 15 laps.

Mejia enjoyed a 4.278s gap from runner-up Vedant Menon, while Mohammed Alhasan came third 4.528s from first.

Alhasan had earlier taken the pre-final 1.138s ahead of Mejia, after also going fastest in qualifying and free practice. In the DD2 MAX category, Kruglov battled from the back of the grid to secure a fantastic first win of the season. He made his way to only trailing early race leader Abdulla Sajjad by lap four, and then took over at the front in lap 11.

Kruglov won at the end of 15 laps in 13:32.760, beating Sajjad by 1.626s. Raoul Sadi came third 3.509s behind. Sajjad, the winner from round one, had earlier claimed this weekend’s pre-final win, while Kruglov captured pole in qualifying after Sajjad set the free practice pace. Almahroos ran the DD2 Masters class unopposed throughout the meeting.

He finished the final in a time of 13:56.534. Following all the action in round two, the winners were presented their respective trophies by officials in the podium ceremonies.

The BRMC will next be in action with rounds three and four on 15 and 29 November as the final events of the calendar year. The series will then begin 2025 with round five on 11 January, before holding round six on 24 January. The seventh and penultimate meeting will take place on 8 February, setting the stage for the BRMC finale two weeks later on 21 February