14 October 2021
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Al Ain Raceway this past weekend hosted the opening round of the 2021/2022 UAE Rotax MAX Challenge (RMC), the premier grassroots motor racing series in the region, with a high benchmark set in all classes and setting the stage for a riveting edition of the championship under the auspices of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
Race day featured a mix of well-prepared drivers and those with more work to do, rust was evident after the break but all in all the day delivered high-end racing with some expected results and others coming as surprise.
A healthy field of 19 DD2 karts took to the track at the season opener, including ten DD2 Masters, and it soon became clear that the man to beat this year will be Khaled Saab who dominated by claiming pole position in qualifying and then powering to dominant wins in all three races including the Final.
Missing out on the title by a mere four points last year has clearly fired up Saab who has set himself as the benchmark for a very competitive class.
Best of the rest was a toss-up between DD2 Masters Champion Tony Hogg, Kyle Kumaran, Kayne Cherian and Nadim Khneisser.
In the final, Hogg chased Saab but could not match the younger driver's pace but did have enough firepower to fend off Kumaran, Cherian and Khneisser in a feisty battle for the second step of the podium. the trio crossed the finish line with less than half a second between them.
Hogg thus took DD2 Masters maximum points with his second place overall, followed by fellow Mohammed Matar Al Shamsi and Gianluca Elmosi in the veteran class.
The MAX class boasted a strong field with the 'expected suspects' Theo Kekati, Seb Murray, Lewis England, Zack Scoular Noah Tamasker and Jack Carless emerging as the drivers to watch.
Murray took top honours in the first heat followed by Scoular in second after Pole-sitter Kekati was pushed off the track during a messy opening lap and was forced to rejoin some way down at the back.
In the Pre-Final, Murray held off Scoular to the flag but a technical problem for Scoular in the final stages of the last lap saw him slow as England and a recovering Kekati took advantage to cross the line second and third; Tamasker was fourth followed by Scoular and Carless.
While his two race victories were reasonably comfortable, Murray had to work hard to win the Final after a concerted challenge by Kekati and Scoular, although the latter was forced to DNF with a technical issue.
The leading duo crossing the line separated by a mere 0.135s with England claiming a lonely third followed by steady Alex Wareing in fourth and Tamasker fifth after a penalty.
An impressive field of 21 Junior MAX drivers were in action with several drivers capable of snatching top honours, among them: reigning champion Federico Rifai, Max Dexter, Danny Shields, Oscar Lambert, Bertie Gibbons, Harry Hannam, Filippo Parmeggiani, Matteo Quintarelli and Alisia Khneisser.
Rifai topped a very close qualifying session in which the top 12 were within a second. Rifai went on to win the Heat race after fending off Shields with Lambert in third followed by Georges Nassar and Parmeggiani.
The Pre-Final was as close as it gets with Rifai again winning followed by Shields and Parmeggiani setting up the grid for the Final.
With Rifai and Shields on the front row, the latter was out of the start tramlines which triggered a penalty that put him out of the running for victory which became a contest between Rifai and an on-form Parmeggiani who edged by with a decisive move to take the lead where he stayed. Not long after Rifai retired with a technical issue.
This promoted Hannam to second with Dexter and Gibbons crossing the line in his slipstream to finish third and fourth respectively.
Lambert was fifth ahead of the top female driver on the day Alisia Khneisser, followed by Georges Nassar in seventh and Sofia Necchi an impressive eighth after starting at the back; Shields' penalty meant he was classified 10th.
Kaiden Higgins was the surprise pole winner in Mini MAX qualifying, but thereafter the day belonged to Zain El Hommossany who went on to win the Heat, Pre-Final and Final, in which Higgins was second after a race-long duel with Conor Clancy, the latter crossing the line second but dropping to third after receiving a penalty for an infringement at the start.
In the Micro MAX Class Maxim Bobreshov completed a clean sweep of all sessions, easily the class of the field, winning the Final by an emphatic 4.7s over Leonidas Peruzzi who finished second after fending off Adam Awan all day.
Al Ain Raceway and RMC Championship manager Guy Sheffield summed up: "As an organiser, of course, the first round of the season is always hectic, but thankfully the weekend ran smoothly as the level of driving and competition rises with every season.
"We witnessed some dominant displays as well as nail-biting battles during the course of the day, with healthy fields once again signalling a return to normality as we embark on an exciting edition of the region's premier karting series.
Round 2 of the 2021/2022 Rotax Max Challenge takes place on the weekend 4-5 November.
Useful RMC, Round 1 Links:
Timetable http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/uploads/banners/210929SCHEDULE.pdf
Information about the UAE Rotax MAX Challenge
Live Timing: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/live-timing
Website: http://www.alainraceway.com/uaermc/
Location: https://g.page/AlAinRaceway?share
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialuaermcpage
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uae_rotax_max_challenge/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlAinRaceway
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/alainraceway
Information about Al Ain Raceway
Website: http://www.alainraceway.com/
