Rotax MAX karters shine at BIKC

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) hosted the fourth round of the 2023/2024 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC) over the weekend at its world-class grassroots motorsport facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC).

Rayyan Najjar, Leopold Juch, Khaled Najjar, Tye Mejia and Abdulla Junaid all emerged triumphant in their respective categories.

Rayyan was victorious in the Micro MAX class, while Leopold took the win in the Mini MAX. Khaled ended the meeting atop the Junior MAX category, Mejia was first in the Senior MAX, and Junaid claimed the win in the MAX DD2 class. Racing was held along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track.

The BRMC is organised and run by BIC and BIKC, in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) and the Bahrain Karting Commission (BKC).

Rayyan Najjar kicked off the round by finishing behind Tariq Soofi on the Micro MAX’s qualifying practice classification.

The pair maintained their positions in the pre-final, but in the ninelap final, Rayyan was able to take over as leader on the fifth lap. He went on to take the chequered flag in a total time of nine minutes 26.987 seconds, narrowly beating Austin Gray by less than a second.

Tariq had to settle for third in class. In the Mini MAX category, Nasser Nass clinched pole in qualifying practice while Leopold was sixth-best in the session.

Nasser went on to win the pre-final ahead of Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa, with Leopold not competing. But he made up for it in the nine-lap final where he was engaged in a tight battle with Nasser.

The two exchanged the lead over the concluding laps and Leopold, who started last in class, was able to eke out the victory by a mere 0.170 seconds.

He had a winning time of 8:54.533. Demir Albali joined Leopold and Nasser on the podium 3.014s from the winner.

In the Junior MAX, Khaled Najjar made a clean sweep of the three sessions.

He topped qualifying practice by nearly a half-a-second, won the pre-final ahead of Shaheen Shaheen by 11.432s, and then powered to the win in the 15-lap final in 13:54.027, 2.884s ahead of runner-up Rashid Hilal.

Shaheen was third 31.934s back.

The Senior MAX featured the largest field of competitors, with up to 21 of the Kingdom’s best talents going wheel-towheel.

Mohammed Alhassan struck first as he powered to pole position for the pre-final with a best lap 0.284s quicker than Lewis Smith.

Alhassan maintained his strong pace in the pre-final, winning ahead of Tye Mejia.

But in the final, held over 15 laps, Mejia had a brilliant start, raced ahead to the front and never looked back. He masterfully defended his position to win in 13:36.847—0.623s ahead of runner-up Rashid Almuammari.

Alhassan had to settle for third 0.783s behind. In the MAX DD2 category, it was a two-horse race between Abdulla Junaid and Mohammed Junaid, with Abdulla taking all three sessions. He won the pre-final with a massive 38.942s gap, and then took the final by 10.103s.

Following all the action, the winners were presented their respective trophies in a podium ceremony attended by officials from BIC, BIKC, the BMF and the BKC.

The 2023/2024 BRMC calendar features eight rounds in all. Following last weekend’s action, the karters return to the track for a double-header in rounds five and six on 9 and 10 February.

The BRMC’s penultimate meeting then takes place on 23 February, paving the way for the championship finale on 8 March.