Najjar, Tariq clinch back-to-back win

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Khalid Najjar and Tariq Soofi each claimed back-to-back victories over the weekend in rounds two and three of the 2023/2024 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC), held at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.

Najjar stepped atop the podium of the Junior MAX class in both meetings, while Tariq enjoyed his double success in the Micro MAX category.

Other winners in the second round were Nasser Nass in the Mini MAX class and Mohammed Alhassan in the Senior MAX, while Leopold Juch took the Mini MAX win in round three with Rashid Khalifa securing the Senior MAX victory.

The BRMC is the Kingdom’s leading national karting championship, organised and run by Bahrain International Circuit and BIKC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain Karting Commission.

Participants of various ages and nationalities compete in their very own Rotax-powered karts in the championship’s various classes, heating up the tarmac along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIKFIA track.

Khalid Najjar had a perfect weekend competing in the BRMC’s Junior MAX division. He set the pace from start to finish in both meetings, putting on a fantastic display of his prowess.

After topping the second round’s qualifying practice timesheet, Najjar went on to win the pre-final by a convincing margin, and then secured a pole-to-flag victory in the 15-lap final with a time of 13 minutes 52.578 seconds.

Najjar cruised unopposed to the chequered flag, finishing 8.514 seconds ahead of runner-up Shaheen Shaheen, while Zayd Alzain came third 19.607s back.

In the third round, Najjar picked up from where he left off, once again taking the Junior MAX final but with an even bigger gap of 11.001s, completing the sprint in 13:45.517.

Shaheen was again in second place, while Rashid Hilal rounded off the podium 11.078s from Najjar.

Just like Najjar, Tariq Soofi had a flawless weekend, leading the Micro MAX category in every session of both rounds.

Tariq kicked off the season’s second meeting taking pole in qualifying practice, and then winning the pre-final ahead of Austin Gray.

In the final, Tariq coasted to an outright victory, completing the nine-lap race in 9:22.613.

He finished more than nine seconds ahead of Austin, while Rayyan Najjar came third just under 14 seconds behind.

In the third round, Tariq maintained his fine form all the way to the final, which he won with a closer gap of nearly two seconds from Rayyan.

Austin was also not far behind to take third place.

Pace-setter

In the Mini MAX class, Leopold Juch was the early pace-setter, topping qualifying practice ahead of Demir Albali.

But Nasser Nass responded well and took the win in the pre-final. He then rode his momentum into the final, claiming the chequered flag in 8:51.689 after nine laps.

Demir followed 2.481s behind, while Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa joined them on the podium 2.857s back.

In round three, Leopold beat out Nasser to Mini MAX pole before taking the pre-final ahead of Shaikh Ahmed.

Leopold completed his impressive run in the meeting, powering to the win in the ninelap final in a time of 8:46.192 while never giving up his position in front.

Ronaldo Koen came second with a 4.544s margin, while Demir claimed his double podium for the round in third 5.211s adrift.

In the Senior MAX class, Mohammed Alhassan made his presence felt early in the second round and captured pole in qualifying practice, but then Vedant Menon won the pre-final with Alhassan finishing third.

In the 15-lap final, Alhassan bounced back, starting from the second row to triumph in a total time of 13:31.290.

Tye Mejia was the runner-up 1.210s behind, and Rashid Khalifa took third 7.073s back. Khalifa had a superb drive, going from 17th at the start to finishing fifth on the road before being promoted to the podium after a penalty and disqualification to the karters ahead of him.

Menon, on the other hand, had a rough start and dropped all the way to the very end of the 19-kart field, but then he also made a fantastic comeback and gained 13 places to finish sixth on the road, before being promoted to fifth on the final classification.

In the third round, Khalifa led the way in qualifying practice but Gracie Grantham triumphed in the pre-final ahead of Wian Boshoff.

In the final, Khalifa and Boshoff were engaged in a tight head-tohead battle over the race’s final five laps.

Boshoff had originally gotten the better of Khalifa at the finish, but he was later given a 10-second penalty by the stewards, handing the win to his rival.

Khalifa was classified first in 13:39.905 after 15 laps.

Mejia put in a strong showing to finish second a narrow 0.295s behind after starting 13th, while Musaad Albassam came third 2.133s from Khalifa.

The 2023/2024 BRMC calendar features eight rounds in all. The series returns for round four on 26 January.