Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship set for thrilling back-to-back rounds this weekend

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) is all set to host back-to-back days of exciting wheel-to-wheel racing over the weekend with the second and third rounds of the Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC) 2022 lighting up the track.

The BKSC consists of both the Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC) and the Bahrain Sprint Sodi W Series (BSSWS). Competitors in each series will first get out on track between 9am and 3pm today, before hitting the tarmac once more for another go-around tomorrow.

All the racing will take place along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track. The BRMC will see karters field their very own Rotax karts in the championship’s various competition categories, while the BSSWS will feature contestants racing in identical 390cc Sodikarts supplied by BIKC.

A talented group of competitors will be battling it out in the BRMC. Set to line up on the Senior MAX grid is Najashi Rashdan, who took the win in the season-opening round held last month. He will be joined in his class by Shaikha Haya bint Saqer Al Khalifa, Lewis Smith, Fahad Alkhaled Fahad Al Muqla, Abdulrahman Waleed, Yousif Mathkoor, Faisal Jamsheer, Ahmed Kashwa and Ahmed Alsaleh.

The Junior MAX category will feature returning winner from round one Luca Kane Houghton. He will be up against the likes of Gracie Rose Grantham, Vedant Menon, Mohammed Alhassan, Mohammed Wally, Sari Al Zubi, Abdulqader Qasem, Tye Mejia, Louis Safa Nabulsi, Musaad Albassam and Shanthosh Kumar.

The Mini MAX class will be led by Khaled Alnajjar, who won in round one, with Shaikh Rashid bin Salman Al Khalifa and Charlie Goddard making up his chief rivals. Round one winner in the Micro MAX category Yousif Alghaith will go up against Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa in their class.

On both days this weekend, action in the BRMC will begin at 9am with qualifying practice. The pre-finals will then get underway at 10.05am, to be followed by the finals starting from 12.30pm.

The BSSWS will have their qualifying practice kick off the proceedings at 9.52am, to be followed by their pre-final at 11.35am. That will set the stage for the final at 2.35pm.

Following all the action, the podium ceremonies will begin at 3am for the BRMC winners, while the BSSWS top three will be awarded from 3.25pm.

The BKSC is set to feature seven rounds in all in its 2022 season. Following this weekend’s racing, round four is scheduled to take place on February 26. Rounds five and six will then be held on March 11 and 12, and that will pave the way for the season-finale on March 25.