03 February 2012
It's difficult to find original and evocative ways in which to start these race reports. We can talk about what the weather was like, or talk about the shiny new karts in the paddock and how many drivers were there; we can use an array of adjectives, similes and metaphors to set the scene. But today we shall not. Today we will simply thank those who attended and conducted themselves with sportsmanship, and remind those who lack in that department that there are improvements to be made.
Round 6 of the AARKC Rotax MAX Challenge was run on Al Ain Raceway's "F1 Circuit" configuration, a high speed layout measuring little over 1300 metres.
It’s refreshing that these days the Cadets are such a friendly and honest bunch. You couldn’t pick out a spoilt one as all of them insist upon saying “Good morning” and make an effort to say “thank you” on the way out, regardless of how their day went. Drivers in other classes could learn something from these young gentlemen. On the track Taymour Kermanshahchi – after some curious starting antics – lead from start to finish once more. Over the 10 lap distance he was consistently 3 tenths faster than his closest challenger Alain Bauwmans and romped past the chequered flag with a cushion of 6.23 seconds. Alain himself has been victim of some bad luck and reliability issues this season but finally things came good. From third on the grid he made the best of a good start and found himself in second place after an unforced error from Zachary Robertson. Zachary was racing at Al Ain for the first time on Friday and certainly made an impact. He was running well all day and looked like he could spoil the party for Taymour up front. Sadly on his comeback drive after a spin at turn 1, he made contact with Ivan Berets while attempting to pass which resulted in a 10 second penalty- one that was graciously accepted with sincere remorse. Ivan was promoted to fourth place as a result. One of the loudest cheers on the podium on the day was for Finn Healy, who after an impressive season kept his head down to finish a fantastic third place. Spare a thought for Tehmur Chohan who has been driving brilliantly this year. His race never even started after an engine problem side-lined him on the formation lap. So in the title race, Taymour has 300 points from a possible 300, cant ask for much more than that. Alain lies second on 258 points to third place Tehmur on 203. Ivan is close behind on 200 with Finn Healy in fifth place on 152.
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Result:
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1st Taymour Kermanshahchi | 2nd Alain Bauwmans | 3rd Finn Healy |
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Fastest lap:
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Taymour Kermanshahchi 1:00.653 | ||
There were 11 Junior MAX drivers that made up the field on Friday which was a fantastic achievement. The start was incident-free but Cedric Dreyer fell victim to a nudge from Ameer Hassan that put him into the barriers at the final turn, the offending driver receiving a 10 second penalty for his part in the incident. At the front a three kart-train made up of Abdullah Al Rawahi, Cyrus Engineer and Pasqual Pook started to pull out a gap. Abdullah was doing a tremendous job to hold onto first but quite uncharacteristically put a wheel on the kerb of the exit of turn 1 and put himself into a spin. He swiftly recovered himself but was way down the order with lots of ground to make up. The episode promoted Cyrus to first place, but he had his work cut out for him as Pasqual refused to give up the fight. After swapping positions a few times Pasqual found himself in front and managed to keep Cyrus at bay to the line and as a result took his first ever final victory in the AARKC JMAX class. Cyrus crossed the line alongside, the gap just 0.12 seconds. Patrick Hannah spent his entire race holding off Ameer Hassan for third and there he would remain until the flag, a well deserved podium. Ameer was on his tail to the bitter end and although crossed the line fourth, was demoted to fifth on account of an earlier incident. Guilio Peroni put on by far his best display yet. Still in his rookie year he ran alone in fifth place only 4 tenths off the pace of the leaders, he was moved up to fourth as a result of the aforementioned incident. Cedric Dreyer recovered well after his first lap shunt to finish in sixth place, 20 seconds ahead of Sebastian Seeling. Abdullah Al Rawahi could only climb as high as eighth on his come back drive. Three guest drivers from Saudi Arabia – Saud Al Saedan, Nawaf Al Massari and Hamad Al Saedan – finished 9th, 10th and 11th respectively. The result means that Cyrus Engineer now leads the Junior MAX championship on 516 points to Abdullah’s 503. Ameer Hassan sits third 444 and Pasqual Pook is fourth 422, Patrick Hannah is fifth in the standings on 390 points. We have a race on...
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Result:
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1st Pasqual Pook | 2nd Cyrus Engine | 3rd Patrick Hannah |
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Fastest lap:
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55.04 by Pasqual Pook | ||
The Senior MAX class was once again dominated by Sanad Al Rawahi who after winning all of the qualifying heats, went on to take a clean sweep of wins in the final. From Pole position he led into turn 1 and never had to look back. After setting lap times no more than 2 tenths in margin he kept a small gap back to Nikita Miliakov and crossed the line 2.57 seconds ahead to take his 6th win on the year. Nikita has been improving all season long and on Friday he looked very comfortable in his kart. Second place would be his reward for another strong drive and he will be extremely satisfied to see his improvements keeping him within a few kart lengths of the championship leader. Raffaele De Lorenzi started well and was running in third place for most of the distance. He was deposed to fourth on lap 10 by Piers Pakenham-Walsh but on the penultimate lap his chain parted company with his drive train on the exit of the hairpin and that drew a sad line under his strong performance. Piers was on a mission after being involved in a collision on the second lap. If anyone can cut through a field of karts then its Piers – as he has demonstrated many time before. Sadly he was handed a 10 second penalty for the aforementioned collision which dropped him to fourth place. The decision promoted Ali Al Najar to third place, who seems to be having a bit more luck this year compared to seasons past. Alex Coward had a decent result by coming home fifth in class ahead of Bader Al Barrak. The result means Sanad has 599 points from a possible 600, not a bad strike rate. Nikita sits in second place on 481 and Raffaele De Lorenzi is third on 410.
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Result:
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1st Sanad Al Rawahi | 2nd Nikita Miliakov | 3rd Ali Al Najar |
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Fastest lap:
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55.15 by Sanad Al Rawahi | ||
The MAX Masters are like no other category. There doesn’t appear to be any bickering, they all seem to get along. A point confirmed after the briefing, a model class full of up-standing blokes. When the on track action starts, these “old boys” are as quick if not quicker than anyone. Luc Bauwmans capitalized on Andrew Fuller’s misfortune at the start (more in a sentence or two) by getting a great start and dicing with the front-running Seniors. Negotiating all obstacles that came his way he kept his foot down to score his second win of the year. Andrew fell victim to contact early on which put him into a spin at turn 1. Down but not out he began his recovery drive cutting through the pack like a hot knife through butter. By the time the race had finished he had managed to get himself back into third place and although he was favourite to win at the start of the race, third cant be considered a bad attempt at damage limitation. Walid Al Qassemi was enjoying a successful day and again fighting at the front meant he finished in a comfortable second place. Jonathan Mowatt crossed the line fourth in class after holding off a hard charging train of Kevin Day, Bruno De Champris and Ronald Zouein. Perry Spruit did not take the start. The result means that Luc has closed the gap to Andrew by 17 points, Andrew on 531 to Luc’s 465. Walid is in close proximity on 439 points and Jonathan lies fourth on 394.
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Result:
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1st Luc Bauwmans | 2nd Walid Al Qassemi | 3rd Andrew Fuller |
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Fastest lap:
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55.79 by Luc Bauwmans | ||
Maurits Knopjes continued his dominance of the DD2 class by powering his kart unhindered from the lights to the flag. He does make it look easy doesn’t he? I am assured by the man himself that it’s never easy and that he does indeed push himself to the limit each and every time. He was joined on the front row by Oliver George who on the early stages was passed by Hasher Al Maktoum and Patrick Jarjour. Hasher set about chasing down long-time friend and on-track rival Maurits. He had the gap pegged at around three seconds but just couldn’t latch on to the leaders tail. He crossed the line second 3.74 seconds behind. Oliver and Patrick were racing each other hard, and after exchanging some wonderful overtakes ended up coming to blows with Patrick accidently forcing Oliver off track by Post 7. A 10 second penalty was applied to Patrick for causing an avoidable collision and he was classified seventh. Oliver was fourth. After all the unpleasantness it was Arnaud that benefitted and was bumped up the order to third place. Mohammed Al Zaabi put on a solid performance to finish in 5th, but Mohammed Al Dhaheri took himself out of contention on the opening lap with a move that backfired causing him to spin off the road. Hussain Umid Ali was nursing an ailing kart for the bulk of the race and crossed the line 8th. Maurits now leads the championship on 554 points to Hashers 447. Oliver George is third on 410, Mohammed Al Dhaheri is fourth on 383. Patrick is right behind on 377 and Arnaud is on 371.
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Result:
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1st Maurits Knopjes | 2nd Hasher Al Maktoum | 3rd Arnaud Bouf |
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Fastest lap:
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53.73 by Maurits Knopjes | ||
The Honda Challenge was well subscribed on Friday. Hussain Umid Ali led the pack home after some exceptionally close racing with his rivals. Sam Zian was the closest challenger and he hounded Hussain to the very end. After 15 minutes of racing he had to settle for second, 2.02 seconds back. Reigning Champion Atef Al Barwani came home third fractionally ahead of Michel Karam who was returning to Al Ain Raceway after a brief hiatus. Anas Al Halabi was back in force and was classified fifth ahead of Abdulla Ali Khalfan. Daniel Price was having a great mini-race with Carlos Vale, they would finish 7th and 8th. Sebastian Puhze was acting as a punch bag for the most of the day, he did well to recover and finish 9th just ahead of Emanuelle Bonazzi. Julian Odulate tried to get past Emanuelle on several occasions but just couldn’t make it stick. Samer Lahoud, Thomas Walker finished in 12th and 13th whilst Talal Al Jesmi retired for reasons unknown. Hussain leads the Honda Challenge on 292 points from Sam who has a total of 234. Atef lies in third on 220.
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Result:
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1st Hussain Umid Ali | 2nd Sam Zian | 3rd Atef Al Barwani |
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Fastest lap:
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1:09.409 by Hussain Umid Ali | ||
Next race: Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi. 17th February 2012.
