The third round of the 2019-20 UAE Rotax MAX Challenge (RMC) took place at Al Ain Raceway on Saturday, under the auspices of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, featuring the country's top karters in action for the first time since the RMC Grand Finals in Naples during the last week of October.
DD2 & DD2 Masters
Kyle Kumaran returned from his first RMC Grand Finals, in Naples last month, with a spring in his step and on Saturday he was simply in a class of his own as he dominated the combined DD2 and DD2 Masters races. Winning the Final by four seconds and claiming the fastest lap in the process. Untouchable all weekend.
Behind him, Constantin Reisch, Nadim Khneisser and Marcus Marker were in contention for best of the rest. The trio circulating bumper to bumper waiting for mistakes during a tense finale. But no opportunities arose and Reisch crossed the line in second with Khneisser and Marker, tucked in behind him, in third and fourth respectively.
Special mention to Khneisser, a junior driver, who has made impressive progress in the shifter DD2 category, improving with every outing and this podium a testament to his improvement.
In the DD2 Masters, Tony Hogg was always the man to beat and crossed the line fifth overall to claim maximum points for the veteran class, despite a strong challenge late in the final by Dario Rubio who was a quarter second adrift when the chequered flag waved. Gianluca Elmosi was third.
MAX
Grand Finals star Lachlan Robinson carried his stellar Naples form over to the third round in Al Ain but was made to work hard for the top spot on the podium by Khaled Saab and Theo Kekati.
Earlier Saab dominated the MAX Pre-Final and was only contained in the Final when Robinson made a good start, managed to get ahead and pulled a gap.
Behind him, Saab and Kekati battled one another before realising that working together would serve them better. They did so and reeled in the leader, late in the race they were up with Robinson who then delivered a masterclass in smart defensive driving to keep his rivals at bay and claim victory.
A very narrow one it was too, with Saab a mere seven-hundredths of a second shy of the win - about the width of a sticker! - followed by Kekati four-tenths of a second down in third.
Mehrbod Shameli, who had grandstand seats to the podium battle ahead, chased hard but had to settle for fourth, ahead of Liam Jones in a lonely fifth place.
Junior MAX
Throughout practice and the qualifying races, it was a dogfight which carried on through to a nail-biting Final with several drivers capable of grabbing victory in the ultra-competitive category.
In the end it was down to a quartet of drivers who might have done the business in the dying laps, but Georgie Zouein had it covered to take an impressive win, crossing the finish line a mere three tenths ahead of Kamal Agha, in second, who had Alexander Renner in third and Kayne Cherien fourth - all in the winner's slipstream.
Agha and Zouein were at each other for the lead allowing Cherien to snatch the lead and breakaway, but his pursuers started working together to close in on the leader.
Zouein bagged the lead late on where he stayed to claim a hard-earned victory over second-placed Agha and Renner in third. Behind them, Cherien dropped down to finish fourth, with Anshul Gandhi fifth, William wade sixth and Zack Scoular seventh.
Mini MAX
After close qualifying races, Naples RMC Grand Finalist Harry Hannam found another gear on his way to a dominant Final victory by 5.6 seconds over teammate Bertie Gibbons, who chased gamely early on but dropped back to finish a lonely second place.
Fahad Al Rawahi was an equally untroubled third place, despite receiving a time penalty at the start. He was pressed hard by Lewis England who finished fourth. The latter recovering from an issue that saw him drop back down the order, then fending off a hard charge by Krishna Shankar who was fifth.
Sofia Necchi was sixth, Iko Segret seventh and Noah Tamasker rounding out the top eight in a field of twelve.
Micro MAX
Benjamin Wade proved to be the class of the field, powering to victory in the Final after dominating on the day. He finished 1.5 seconds ahead of Adam Al Azhari who set the fastest lap in pursuit as he kept the winner honest.
From almost the back of the grid, Seb Murray dug deep to snatch third place from Filippo Parmigiani, who at one point was in the fierce battle for second. This allowed Wade to edge ahead and comfortably control proceedings at the front. Shivali Sinha rounded out the top five albeit almost 15 seconds adrift of the race winner.
The victory sees Wade extend his lead in the Micro MAX standings after three rounds, and makes him the man to beat for the rest of the season.
Guy Sheffield, Race Director commented: "Overall a good day with very close racing, particularly good at the sharp end of the field. Good to watch for the spectators and exciting contests for drivers and teams. It was good to see the RMC Grand Finalists bring their experience home with them, and raising the bar thanks to their week in Naples."
The 2019 UAE RMC series continues with Round 4 at Al Ain Raceway, on 6-7 December.
End.
Useful Links:
UAE Rotax MAX ChallengeWebsite: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialuaermcpage/
UAE RMC 2019 Race Calendar: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/race-calender
Race Results: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/race-results
Championship Standings: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/championship-standings
