Alsaei’s accolade

A thrilling day of karting action saw numerous racers claim the ultimate prize as they took the chequered flag in the season-ending race held at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.

Khaled Alsaei was crowned the MAX category champion in the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge (BRMMC) following the narrowest of victories. He won the championship finale by just 0.504 seconds ahead of Abdulla Al Thawadi and 4.078s in front of Hussain Hassan.

That was enough to clinch the title, as Alsaei topped the overall classification by just two points. He headed into the concluding meeting engaged in a heated battle for the title with Hassan and Mohammed Mattar.

Things were set up for a nail-biting finish as Hassan showed off his pace by winning the Pre-Final Race ahead of Alsaei. But in the Final, it was Alsaei who did enough to clinch the victory in 14 minutes 24.596 seconds, and eventually also win the season crown. Hassan’s classification in third cost him some crucial points, while Mohammed Mattar finished fourth.

With his win, Alsaei improved to 195 points in the standings, with Hassan finishing in close second on 193. Delighted Alsaei told GulfWeekly: “It’s been a tough season but I am delighted to win. It was a really close battle in the final race, which is how racing should be. This is a great achievement and I’m already excited about coming back to defend my title.”

In other classes, Talal Beshara was named champion of the BRMMC’s Junior Max category, Anthony Genocchio was victorious in the BRMMC’s Max Masters, and Rashid Almuammari was crowned champion in the Bahrain Sodi Sprint Championship (SSWS). Both the BRMMC and the SSWS make up the annual Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC).

In the Junior Max class, Beshara had twice the reason to celebrate by taking home both the race and season wins.

Beshara crossed the finish in 14:39.659, a dominant 15.629s ahead of runner-up Alexander Bekkers. Anas Lecaillon claimed the last podium spot.

Beshara ended the season standings with 140 points, while Lecallion was second on 125 points and Bekkers third on 117 points.

Genocchio clinched the Max Masters crown 50 points ahead of Mohamed Faqihi, while Batelco Racing Drag965 were the BRMMC’s Entrant winners with 664 points overall for the season.

Meanwhile, in the SSWS, Almuammari won the season’s title but only after Abdulla Buhindi raced to the chequered flag in a thrilling final race.

Buhindi outsprinted Almuammari by a mere 0.084 seconds as 17 karters took to the grid for the last SSWS race. Yousif Khamiri secured the final podium step 9.430s behind the victor.

After the result, Almuammari ended the season with 252 points. Buhindi followed with 233, and Ahmed Ebrahim was third on 153 points.

Following all the racing, the winners were presented their respective trophies by officials.

The BRMMC is the BKSC’s category for Rotax kart owners while the SSWS is an arrive-and-drive championship where competitors race against
 each other in identical Sodikarts, with the emphasis on driver skill.

Commercial manager of karting Mohamed Faqihi told GulfWeekly: “2016-17 witnessed an increase in participation in junior and senior level, which was fantastic. For 2017-18 we are definitely looking to increase this even more, and involve an even younger class.

“There is a lot of really great talent in Bahrain that needs a platform to flourish, so
 we hope that with a larger grid we can promote grass roots karting, as after all it is the gateway to highest level
 of motorsport.”