24 October 2019
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Lachlan Robinson in action in the Junior MAX class on Thursday in Naples
Qualifying Race day for the 2019 Rotax MAX Challenge (RMC) Grand Finals at Circuito Internationale di Napoli, in Sarno, proved to be a mixed bag of results for Team UAE.
After a below-par Wednesday, Team UAE drivers had their work cut out on Thursday for the Qualifying Races on the day for each class.
The team woke up to the news that DD2 Master driver Gianluca Elmosi was forced to withdraw from the event to attend to personal matters in Abu Dhabi where he resides. The popular driver with a ready smile and kind words was missed by the team on the day.
The other drivers performed as follows:
Lachlan Robinson - Senior MAX
After starring on Wednesday and on Thursday morning's Qualifying Race 2 in which he finished fifth, it went downhill for him in Qualifying Race 3 when he was shunted off on two occasions. The first bent his kart and caused a slow puncture, but he persevered and was carving his way up the field until he was punted off a second time and was 30th when the flag dropped. He ended 20th out of the 72 drivers in the class.
Kyle Kumaran in action in the Junior MAX class on Thursday in Naples
Kyle Kumaran - DD2
With only three years of karting under his belt, he has given an impressive account of himself. Getting better with each race he finished 15th in Qualifying Race 2, and 14th in the next race to end 26th out of 72 drivers.
Jakob Robinson - DD2
The reigning UAE DD2 Champion has struggled to find the sweet-spot all week for a variety of reasons and as a result ended 67th out of 72 drivers in the hotly contested category.
Tony Hogg - DD2 Master
The veteran was 23rd in Qualifying Race 2 and went better in the next one to finish 19th. He was classified 48th out of 72.
Hussain Umid Ali - DD2 Master
Nursing a shoulder injury from a recent crash, the Al Ain based veteran was thus on the back-foot for most of the week and ended 59th in the standings.
Georgie Zouein in action in the Junior MAX class on Thursday in Naples
Georgie Zouein - Junior MAX
A below-par qualifying did him no favours, but the Dubai-based 14-year-old did the hard graft on Thursday. He made up eight positions on his way to 20th in the first Qualifying Race 2 and went better in Race 3 to make up ten positions to end up 41st out of 72 drivers.
Khaled Saab - Junior MAX
Also a victim of a poor performance thanks to unsuitable qualifying tactics which compromised his three Qualifying Heat starts. Nevertheless, he dug deep to make up 10 places in Qualifying Race 2 and three places in Race 3. He finished the day 47th.
Harry Hannam - Mini MAX
The Dubai based schoolboy has been impressive all week and capable of running at the sharp end of a very close field. But, once again, incidents resulted in him dropping down the order and he ended 33rd in the points.
Adam Al Azhari - Micro MAX
The youngest driver in the squad was unlucky to be involved in an incident which compromised his day when he was forced to slow to a stop to avoid a dramatic crash during the morning race. He will be starting the Pre-Final from 32nd on a grid of 36 drivers
Drivers still have a chance to progress to the Grand Finals on Saturday through the Pre-Final races on Friday, with the UAE contingent, as well as their rivals, facing a stern challenge to progress to the highlight of the week's intensely close racing.
The Pre-Finals take place on Friday and the Grand Finals the following day.
Team UAE is racing in the Grand Finals through the auspices of Al Ain raceway with support from the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
Schedule: https://www.rotax-kart.com/upload/files/5459.pdf
Live Stream: https://www.rotax-kart.com/en/Max-Challenge/Grand-Finals/Grand-Finals-2019/LIVESTREAM
Live Timing: https://www.rotax-kart.com/en/Max-Challenge/Grand-Finals/Grand-Finals-2019/LIVE-TIMING
UAE RMC Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/officialuaermcpage/
RMC Website: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/
Paul Velasco
