Shaikh Ahmed, Al Najjar clinch back-to-back Rotax victories

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa and Khaled Al Najjar both came away with back-to-back victories in the second and third rounds of the 2022 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC), held over the weekend at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) as part of the Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship.

Shaikh Ahmed took first place in the Micro MAX category in both meetings, while Al Najjar did the same in the Mini MAX class.

Fahad Alkhaled and Shaikha Haya bint Duaij bin Salman Al Khalifa shared the honours in the Senior MAX races, while Mohammed Wally and Tye Mejia claimed a win apiece in the Junior MAX category.

The successive days of karting sprints took place along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track.

The highly competitive field of BRMC competitors battled it out in their very own Rotax karts across the four competition categories.

In the BRMC’s second round held on Friday, Shaikh Ahmed claimed a dominant Micro MAX win from pole position.

He completed the nine-lap Final in a winning time of nine minutes 27.858 seconds, enjoying a big 26.598s gap ahead of runner-up Yousif Alghaith.

Mohammed Waleed finished third.

Al Najjar took his Mini MAX to win in 8:56.889, also over nine laps.

In the 15-lap Junior MAX Final, Wally started on the front row alongside pole-sitter and Pre-Final winner Luca Kane Houghton.

They were engaged in a tough battle throughout the race and on the ninth lap, Wally was able to gain the lead before dropping behind to third on lap 11.

But he was able to recover on the penultimate go-around and passed Houghton for the lead to power onto the chequered flag in 13:49.577. Houghton finished a narrow 0.183s behind, while Shanthosh Kumar was able to claim the other podium step 0.594s back after starting from sixth on the grid.

Mohammed Alhasan came fourth, Mejia was fifth, and Gracie Rose Grantham sixth.

Rounding off the top eight were Musaad Albassam and Vedant Menon.

The Senior MAX final saw Alkhaled move ahead of Najashi Rashdan for the lead on lap six.

He then held on until the end to take the victory in 13:34.101 after 15 laps.

Lewis Smith originally finished behind Alkhaled in the race but was given a five-second penalty, promoting Rashdan to the runner-up spot 0.728s from the winner on the final classification.

Smith had to settle for the third 5.555s back.

Ahmed Alsaleh was classified fourth, Yusuf Mathkoor fifth and Ahmed Kashwa sixth, while five others who started the race did not make it onto the final classification.

The action was back at BIKC on Saturday for another thrilling round of racing.

Shaikh Ahmed and Al Najjar were in fine form once more to complete their respective doubles.

Shaikh Ahmed won the Micro MAX Final with a time of 9:40.512 as he enjoyed a comfortable 12.994s gap ahead of Alghaith.

Waleed came third once more a lap behind.

Al Najjar claimed his win in the Mini MAX category in 9:10.804 and was 2.940s ahead of Charlie Goddard.

His victories in rounds two and three have maintained his perfect season so far, having also won the season-opener.

Mejia put in a fine drive in taking the Junior MAX to win despite starting the race in seventh.

It was an eventful sprint that featured several penalties.

Mejia did well to move up to third by lap two, but then only on the final lap did he take the lead for good to win in 14:06.488 after 15 laps.

Gracie Rose finished in second while Alhasan came third.

Sari Alzubi came fourth, Kumar was fifth, and Albassam finished sixth, while Wally and Abdulqader Qasem completed the top eight on the final classification.

In the Senior MAX Final, Shaikha Haya was able to grab the lead in the first lap from Rashdan, who started from pole.

She then put in a flawless drive to take the win over 15 laps in 13:42.094, with Rashdan finishing 0.672s back as the runner-up.

Alkhaled joined them on the podium 0.768s behind.

From fourth through eighth, respectively, were Smith, Abdulrahman Waleed, Alsaleh, Abdulla Jaweed and Faisal Jamsheer.

Following the opening three rounds of the BRMC season, Alghaith leads Shaikh Ahmed on the Micro MAX championship standings by 12 points, with Alghaith in first place on 92 points.

Al Najjar boasts a massive lead in the Mini MAX title fight, having won all six races so far.

He sits in first with 105 points while Goddard and Shaikh Rashid bin Salman Al Khalifa follow on 29 points apiece.

There is a tight four-way battle in the Junior MAX championship standings, with only 10 points separating the top four.

Houghton leads with 79 points, just a single point ahead of Wally, while Gracie Rose is third with 72 points and Mejia is fourth on 69.

Rashdan tops the Senior MAX class with 92 points, while Shaikha Haya is second with 64 and Smith third on 61 points.

The BRMC is scheduled to return for the season’s fourth of seven rounds on February 26.

Rounds five and six will then be held on successive days on March 11 and 12, which will set the stage for the finale on March 25.