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Bahrain’s aspiring motorsport athletes sparkled on the international stage during the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals which took place last weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).
Seven title-deciding races were held along the Bahrain International Karting Circuit’s (BIKC) 1.414-km track.
The individual category champions were Tomass Stolcermanis in the Junior MAX class, Tereza Babickova in the Senior MAX, Arata Endo in the Mini MAX, Nikita Ljubimov in the Micro MAX, Martijn Van Leeuwen in the DD2 category, Morgan Riche in the DD2 Master and Oscar Pellemele in the e-kart senior category.
BIKC manager Ali Abbas presented the winners and those who joined them on the podium with their respective trophies in an awarding ceremony.
In the Junior MAX Final, Latvian driver Stolcermanis emerged victorious after completing the 18-lap final in 17 minutes 02.061 seconds, leading from pole to podium.
He was 0.915 seconds ahead of Dutch runner-up Jayden Thien while Kai Rillaerts from Belgium came third, 1.180s behind.
In the Senior MAX class, Czech racer Babickova made the most of his leading grid position to win in 18 minutes 59.767s after 21 laps. British driver Callum Bradshaw came second 3.080s ahead of Mark Kimber, who was third 5.056s back.
Bahrain’s Fahad Alkhaled had a fantastic race, finishing 13th after gaining nine places during the race. He finished 16.775s behind the winner. Also competing for Bahrain, Lewis Smith moved up eight places to take 27th on the final classification, 28.777s from first.
In the Mini MAX, Japanese speedster Endo triumphed after 14 laps in a time of 13 minutes 49.081s. He started third on the grid, but was able to get ahead in a tight finish. Polish racer Borys Lyzen was a mere 0.116s behind in second place, while Briton Scott Marsh came third 1.908s back.
Bahrain’s Luca Kane Houghton put in an impressive performance, gaining four places on the final classification from his row 14 starting position for 23rd amongst the 36 drivers. He could have ranked higher but was given a five-second penalty and finished 16.334s behind Endo.
Ljubimov claimed a pole-to-flag victory in the Micro MAX Final with a time of 12 minutes 25.687s after 12 laps. The Estonian was 2.269s ahead of Spaniard runner-up Manuel Miguez Gayoso, while Austrian Dragos Avasilcutei came in third 3.083s behind.
In the DD2 Final, Van Leeuwen from the Netherlands claimed victory from pole position with a winning time of 18 minutes 42.742s. He was 0.128s ahead of runner-up Frenchman Antoine Barbaroux, while Indian racer Kyleaditya Kumaran clinched third place 0.198s behind.
Riche from France triumphed from pole in the 21-lap DD2 Master Final with a time of 18 minutes 49.505s. Frenchman Pier-Luc Ouellette was second 1.783s behind, and Paul Louveau rounded out the top three 9.834s back.
But it was Bahrain’s Mohammed Mattar who stole the show after gaining a massive 25 places. Mattar started at the very end of the 36-kart grid but had a spectacular drive and finished 11th, narrowly missing out on the top 10, just 14.515s from first place.
In the E-Kart Senior category, Frenchman Pellemele won in 11 minutes 06.898s after 12 laps, 4.941s ahead of Swede Hannes Morin. David Aulejtner from Poland was third 5.954s adrift.
Overall, France won the Nations Cup for the second year running, followed by Netherlands and Canada.
