Rotax MAX title battles going down to the wire

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) hosted an action-packed weekend of exciting grassroots motorsport action, with eight drivers emerging victorious in their respective categories in the fifth and sixth rounds of the Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC).

The back-to-back meetings were held as part of the Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship and they featured the Kingdom’s best karters of various ages and nationalities, competing in their own Rotax karts.

Round five saw Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa triumph in the Micro MAX class, Vedant Menon win the Junior MAX, Najashi Rashdan claim first place in the Senior MAX category, and Sulaiman Alkandari wins the DD2 MAX.

The very next day at BIKC, Yousif Alghaith won the Micro MAX class in the BRMC season’s sixth and penultimate round. Santhosh Kumar won the Junior MAX, Ahmed Musalam clinched the Senior MAX victory and Fahad Almuqla captured the DD2 MAX. The eight different drivers emerging triumphant illustrates the highly competitive nature of the BRMC, which is the region’s leading national karting championship. All of the weekend’s racing was held along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track.

In round five, Alghaith topped Micro MAX Qualifying but Shaikh Ahmed won the Pre-Final. Shaikh Ahmed then went on to claim the chequered flag in the Final with a time of nine minutes 27.750 seconds after nine laps, enjoying a comfortable 11.157 seconds ahead of Alghaith. The Junior MAX category saw Menon upset Kumar in a tight Final race after Kumar had clinched first place in both Qualifying and their Pre-Final.

Luca Kane Houghton had originally crossed the finish line first ahead of Menon and Kumar, but Houghton was given a five-second penalty and was demoted to fifth on the final classification. Menon, therefore, inherited the victory with a time of 13:56.069 after 15 laps, while Kumar was classified just 0.149s behind. Mohammed Wally finished third to complete the Junior MAX podium.

The Senior MAX category saw Lewis Smith top Qualifying but then finish 0.349s behind Musalam in the Pre-Final. In the 15-lap Final, Rashdan was able to grab the lead from pole-sitter Musalam on lap two, and then did well to hold on until the end to win in 13:40.691 with a 1.412s gap ahead of Musalam.

Abdulrahman Waleed finished third. In the DD2 Max, it was a twohorse battle between Alkandari and Almuqla from the start, with Almuqla taking Qualifying and then Alkandari winning the Pre-Final. Alkandari rode his momentum to the Final, taking the win after briefly exchanging positions with Almuqla midway through the 15-lap sprint. Alkandari triumphed in 13:33.195, which was just 0.564s quicker than Almuqla.

Battles continue

Following a tense fifth round of racing, the BRMC contenders were back at it in round six, and the heated battles continued from where they left off. In the Micro MAX class, Shaikh Ahmed took both Qualifying and the Pre-Final but was disqualified from the Final where he finished in first. Alghaith was thus promoted to the winner’s spot with a time of 9:32.073.

The Junior MAX category witnessed Houghton take first place in Qualifying and the Pre-Final, but finish third in the Final. Kumar claimed the victory although he originally crossed the finish line in second.

Gracie Rose Grantham took the chequered flag, but was given a three-second penalty, which was enough to gift Kumar the win. Kumar’s total race time was 13:55.736, while Gracie Rose was classified 2.895s back as the runner-up.

The Senior MAX battles had a twist at the very end. Rashdan had claimed both Qualifying and the Pre-Final and then powered ahead to capture a pole-toflag win in the Final. But he was disqualified due to a breach in regulations, and Musalam, who had started towards the back of the grid but gradually made his way up to second at the end, was handed first place.

Musalam had a winning time of 10:59.259 on the final classification, 3.591s ahead of Waleed, while Smith took third. In the DD2 MAX category, Almuqla finished the round strong after Alkandari won Qualifying but was then denied the win in the Pre-Final due to a five-second penalty.

Almuqla took the lead early on in the Final and won in 13:30.146, 3.595s ahead of his rival. Following all the action on both days, the winners received their trophies in their respective podium ceremonies.

With just one round remaining in the BRMC season, the championship battles are as tight as ever. Alghaith leads the Micro MAX standings with 184 points while Shaikh Ahmed follows with 160.

Houghton moved up to the top spot in the Junior MAX table with 150 points, but not far behind him are Wally with 144, Gracie Rose with 136 and Kumar with 123 points. Rashdan and Smith are headed for an exciting finish in their title fight. Rashdan currently leads with 161 points while Smith has 136. The same goes in the DD2 MAX category, with Alkandari first on 64 points followed closely by Almuqla with 55.