Sakhir Rotax karting set for final two rounds

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The final two rounds of the Sakhir Rotax MAX Challenge (SRMC) 2023 takes place this weekend at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), the world-class grassroots motorsport facility at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

The SRMC is the season-opening championship of the 2023/2024 national karting campaign, and following an exciting first two rounds held last weekend, the stage is set for a thriller today and tomorrow at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.

Talented racers of various ages and nationalities will be battling one another along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA Track, suited up in their very own Rotax-powered karts for back-to-back days of intense racing.

Tomorrow’s penultimate meeting will set the stage for the title showdown on Saturday, when the SRMC’s newest champions will be crowned. Heading into this weekend’s events, Julian Rivera, Nasser Nass, Luca Houghton, Pappacena Elia, Xen de Ruwe and Formula 1 legend Rubens Barrichello currently lead the championship standings in their respective competition categories.

Julian tops the Micro MAX class, having triumphed in the season’s first two rounds. He leads with 60 points, but is just a single point ahead of Rayyan Najjar. Nasser is at the forefront of the Mini MAX category, where there is a tight battle amongst the leading six drivers.

Nasser is in first place on 56 points—just 12 ahead of his closest challenger Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa. Shaheen Shaheen is third on 41 points, while round one winner Antione Lemiesx is fourth with 40 points. Caleb Odendaal, the victor from round two, follows in fifth on 38 points, while a further point back is Yousif Alghaith.

The race to the title is also tight in the Junior MAX class, led by Luca. He has 61 points, helped by his win from the season’s second round, but trailing closely only two points behind is Tye Mejia, who claimed the opening round victory.

Brett King is third on 51 points, and Timo Jungling is fourth on 42. Elia is the leader amongst the Senior MAX karters with 62 points, having taken the chequered flag in the season’s second meeting. Round one winner Oliver Kruglov follows on the standings with 53 markers, while Theo Kekati is third on 45.

De Ruwe holds a 13-point lead in the DD2 MAX class, banking on his two wins from rounds one and two. He is on 70 points, and is followed by Dainal Muallem on 57. Barrichello, on the other hand, tops the DD2 MAX Masters with 70 points. With his impressive double from the first two rounds, he enjoys a comfortable gap from Anthony Hogg, who is second on 49 points.