19 December 2019
(Al Ain, 8 December 2019) Al Ain Raceway hosted Round 4 of the UAE Rotax MAX Challenge 2019-20 on Friday and Saturday under the auspices of Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Emirates Motor Sport Federation. The weekend was packed with some of the most dramatic and intense racing from the country's top kart racers, with incidents aplenty and some great individual performances meaning that the crowds were treated to a thrilling spectacle while some of the results had to be decided off track with intervention from the Race Stewards.
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MICRO MAX
After Friday's three Micro MAX Heat races it was incredible how close the field had become, with no less than six drivers demonstrating the pace to challenge for top honours.
Championship leader and runaway winner of Round 3, Benjamin Wade, looked to continue his dominance of proceedings after an excellent Superpole lap saw him claim Pole Position for the Heats. However, it was Adam Al Azhari who impressed the most for the rest of the day, crossing the line 1st in all 3 Heats, albeit with his largest winning margin being a mere 0.06 of a second!
Unfortunately for him, a technical infringement saw him disqualified from Heat 3 with Seb Murray inheriting the win and, after a string of consistent performances, Pole Position for Saturday's Pre Final. For the first time this season these three were challenged strongly throughout by Zain Elhommossany, Shivali Sinha and Adam Awan, all of whom threatened to upset the form book.
Wade was sadly forced to retire early from the Pre-Final after a technical issue derailed his bid for maximum points. This left Al Azhari with the opportunity to complete a sensational recovery drive to take the win ahead of Sinha and Murray.
In the Final Wade made light of his rearmost grid slot, getting up with the front-runners on the opening lap and swapping the lead with Al Azhari and Murray as the trio circulated together ahead of the pack.
With Elhommossany, Sinha and Awan embroiled in their own battle behind, the lead three edged away to ensure that the fight for the podium places became more of a private affair with Seb Murray sealing his debut win after sneaking into the lead and defending valiantly, edging over the line a mere 0.067 of a second ahead of Adam Al Azhari, with Wade in his slipstream to take third.
Less than 0.1 of a second covered the top three while only 0.5 of a second separated 4th, 5th and 6th with Elhommossany keeping Sinha at bay and Awan tantalisingly close behind.
With Max Murray and Ben Gibbons continuing to improve their speed, special mention must be made of all the Micro MAX competitors, the youngest drivers delivering a shining example of contact-free and close racing.
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MINI MAX
In the Mini MAX class, Harry Hannam controlled the top spot over the two days, but he was made to work harder than ever before with the unrelenting challenge from Sofia Necchi and Bertie Gibbons who were contenders all weekend.
Each of them took their turn at the head of the field during the Final but Hannam used all of his experience to get back in front and resist all advances despite intense pressure on the final lap which saw Necchi draw alongside him on the drag to the finish line after the final corner, the pair separated by just 0.018 of a second [in Hannam's favour] as they crossed the line with Gibbons completing the podium.
Competing hard all weekend, albeit just behind the front three, were Krishna Shankar, Lewis England and Ryan Nagle. This trio raced hard and fair throughout Friday and Saturday with each of them taking turns in the ascendency. In the Final, a superb start saw Shankar pull clear and finish in a lonely fourth place while England just edged out Nagle for fifth.
