Karters put on exciting show in Rotax MAX Challenge fifth round

TDT | Manama

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Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, hosted over the weekend the fifth round of the 2024/2025 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC).

Abdulaziz Alsarraf, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa, Nasser Nass, Vedant Menon, Abdulla Sajjad, and Mohamed Almahroos were the winners of their respective categories in the hotly contested meeting.

Action took place along the 1.414-kilometre track at BIC’s world-class grassroots motorsport facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC). The round was organised by BIC and BIKC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, Bahrain Karting Commission, and the Motorsport Marshals Club.

In the Micro MAX class, Tariq Soofi appeared to be headed towards continuing his season-long dominance as he topped the practice timesheet, claimed pole in qualifying, and won the pre-final. He then went on to cross the finish line in first place after nine laps in the final, but was given a 10-second time penalty by the stewards, relegating him to second and promoting Abdulaziz Alsarraf to first. Abdulaziz thus won with a time of nine minutes 19.443 seconds, and Tariq was classified not far behind. Leo Saruhan joined them on the podium in third.

Impressive comeback

In the Mini MAX category, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa set the practice pace and Jude Andrews bagged pole in qualifying. But then, despite starting from nearly the back of the grid, Shaikh Ahmed powered on to win the pre-final ahead of Jude by 1.426s, before taking an outright victory in the nine-lap final in 8:50.986. Austin Gray followed 1.886s behind, while Jude was third 4.052s back.

Tough competition Nasser Nass maintained his winning ways in the Junior MAX class but had to overcome some tough competition on the way. Khaled Najjar had taken practice and qualifying but Nasser was not to be denied in the pre-final, beating Khaled by 0.123s. He then led from start to finish in the 11-lap final, winning in 13:47.036 and enjoying a 4.738s gap from Rashid Hilal. Demir Abali took the third podium step after being classified 4.908s back.

With the Senior MAX featuring the round’s largest grid of 17 karters, the wheel-to-wheel battles were intense. Gracie Rose Grantham was the early aggressor and she pipped Mohammed Alhasan by 0.057s to top the practice times. Tye Mejia then beat Najashi Rashdan by 0.015s for pole, and later brilliantly defended his position to win the pre-final. In the 15-lap final, however, Mejia lost the advantage on lap nine and Alhasan took over at the front. Alhasan crossed the finish line in first place, but was given a 10-second time penalty by the stewards, dropping him all the way back to ninth on the race classification.

Vedant Menon inherited the victory with a time of 13:34.023, while Grantham joined him on the podium as runner-up 0.446s behind. Mohammed Hilal came third 0.661s from the winner.

Close duel

In the DD2 MAX class, Oliver Kruglov edged out Abdulla Sajjad by a mere 0.008s to rank first in practice, and then beat Sajjad again in qualifying, this time by 0.047s. Their close duel continued in the pre-final with Kruglov securing the win, but in the final, Sajjad made his move for the front on the penultimate lap and held on to triumph in 13:23.136 after 15 laps – beating Kruglov by 0.176s. Raoul Sadi came third 3.048s behind.

In the DD2 MAX Masters class, Mohamed Almahroos had gotten the better of Roberto Giannotti in the opening three sessions, and then won comfortably in the 15-lap final in 13:51.817, with Giannotti unable to finish the race.

Following all the action, the winners were presented their respective awards in the podium ceremonies.

Along with their trophies, the top finishers also earned valuable points for their respective championship standings as they aim to be one of those who will win the incredible opportunity to represent Bahrain at the annual Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals – one of the most prestigious karting events in the world.

The BRMC’s 2024/2025 calendar features eight rounds, running until next month. The championship resumes with its sixth meeting on 24 January, and then the seventh and penultimate round will take place on 8 February. That will set the stage for the BRMC finale two weeks later on 21 February.