Karters put on a show in Rotax MAX round six

TDT | Manama

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Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), the world-class grassroots racing facility at ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, hosted another action-packed round in the 2024/2025 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC), held over the weekend in Sakhir.

The Kingdom’s top karters put on a show in the sixth of eight meetings this season, with plenty of excitement in each of the BRMC’s various competition categories.

Taking victories were Tariq Soofi in the Micro MAX class, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa in the Mini MAX, Nasser Nass in the Junior MAX, Gracie Rose Grantham in the Senior MAX, Oliver Kruglov in the DD2 MAX, and Mohamed Almahroos in the DD2 MAX Masters.

All the action took place along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track.

Young Tariq Soofi needed to overcome a tough fight from his fellow-competitors en route to securing his victory in the Micro MAX category.

He set the pace in free practice but then Rashid Almahroos captured pole position in qualifying. Rashid went on to win the pre-final ahead of Abdulaziz Alsarraf, but in the nine-lap final, it was Tariq’s time to shine. He took the lead on lap two and held on all the way to the chequered flag, winning in a total time of nine minutes 15.385 seconds – just 0.146 seconds ahead of Rashid in the runner-up spot. Abdulaziz completed the podium placers in third.

In the Mini MAX class, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa topped the times in free practice but Leonard Bossi pipped him by nine-hundredths of a second for pole in qualifying.

But Shaikh Ahmed went back to first place in the pre-final and he maintained his impressive form in the nine-lap final, staving off a late challenge by Jude Andrews to win in 8:49.348. Jude crossed the finish line behind Shaikh Ahmed, but following a 10-second time penalty, dropped down the order. Austin Gray was thus promoted to second on the classification 0.524s behind the victor. Leonard came third 2.572s back.

In the Junior MAX class, Nasser Nass continued his season-long dominance but needed to battle hard at the beginning. He was pipped by nine-thousandths of a second to the top of the timesheet by Khaled Najjar in free practice, and then in qualifying, Demir Abali took pole.

But Nasser was not to be denied in the pre-final, taking the victory and then masterfully holding on to first place in the 15-lap final. He won in 13:50.958, fighting off the other competitors to finish 3.476s ahead of Shaheen Shaheen in second. Demir came third 4.870s off the pace.

The Senior MAX category featured the largest grid of the round with 13 karters vying for glory. Tye Mejia was the early aggressor, setting the pace in free practice before Musaad Albassam outgunned him by five-hundredths of a second to take pole in qualifying.

Vedant Menon was then the winner of the pre-final ahead of Mejia, but then in the final, Gracie Rose Grantham showed her class and emerged triumphant after a heated duel with Mejia on the last few laps. The pair exchanged the lead multiple times until Grantham took the chequered flag with a narrow 0.137s gap. She had a total winning time of 13:30.270, with Mejia right behind. Menon completed the podium 6.394s back in third.

In the DD2 MAX class, Abdulla Sajjad swept the first three sessions including free practice, qualifying, and the pre-final, but in the pre-final, Oliver Kruglov dramatically swooped in for the victory on the 15th and final lap. He won by 0.116s with a total time of 13:25.605. Joining him and Sajjad on the podium was Raoul Sadi, who finished 0.726s adrift.

In the DD2 MAX Masters, Mohamed Almahroos got the better of Khalifa Delaim in all four outings. Almahroos won the 15-lap final in 13:28.549, with Delaim unable to finish.

Following all the action, the winners and other podium placers were presented their trophies by officials from Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), BIKC, the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF), and the Bahrain Karting Commission (BKC).

The BRMC is organised by BIC and BIKC in cooperation with the BMF and BKC.

The season is now headed for its final two meetings. The series’ seventh and penultimate round will take place on 8 February, after which the championship finale will be held on 21 February.