Bahrain's Luca Kane Houghton crowned vice-champion in MENA nations karting

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Talented Bahrain-based karter Luca Kane Houghton was crowned vice-champion in the Mini Max category at the MENA Karting Nations Cup 2021, held at Muscat Speedway Circuit in Oman.

Representing the Kingdom and karting team Birel ART Bahrain, Luca was the team’s sole participant to step onto the podium in the event’s various competition categories.

He finished his 15-lap final 5.068 seconds behind winner Christopher El Feghali from Lebanon, while also doing well to pip Conor Clancy from the UAE by 0.220s to claim his runner-up classification. Three other of Bahrain’s top young karters were competing in the meeting.

In the Junior Max final, Fahad Almuqla was sixth 9.175s from winner Hamza Al Fayez from Jordan, while Abdulqader Qasem finished 12th in the same race 36.231s from first place.

In the Max category final, Shaikha Haya bint Saqer Al Khalifa was classified in 24th place. More than 200 karters from 19 countries took part in the regional event, which was organised by the Oman Automobile Association (OAA).

The participating nations included Libya, Lebanon, Cyprus, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Tunisia, Palestine, Morocco, Turkey, Bahrain and hosts Oman.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) championship is a major competition for young up-and-coming drivers under the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the world body for motorsports. The inaugural edition took place in February of 2020.