10 December 2013
The UAE Rotax MAX Challenge visits its home venue, Al Ain Raceway, for a 2 day double-header this weekend as the series moves swiftly towards its halfway point.
In keeping with its growing acclaim, Al Ain Raceway is proud to welcome to the UAE multiple World Champion, Ben Cooper, who is travelling from Canada to coach, support and offer advice to the UAE’s best kart racers as they strive to reach the levels needed to compete on the World Stage.
On Friday 13th December Round 5 will be held on the ‘International Circuit’ layout, Al Ain Raceway’s longest configuration, and will follow the conventional Qualifying-type format where drivers will aim to set competitive times in order to determine their race grid positions.
Saturday’s event has something different in store as, for the first time this season, the Random Grid format will apply. After practice, drivers will compete in a sequence of Heat races where their starting positions are determined in advance at random by a specialised programme.
To make things even more interesting, the flowing ‘Grand Finals’ layout will be used, meaning a premium of overtaking opportunities for the competitors.
Championship leader Oliver George is still the man to beat in the premier DD2 class but he will be very aware of the threat posed by close rivals Maurits Knopjes and Pier Pakenham-Walsh. Last year’s Vice Champion, Sanad Al Rawahi, also makes a welcome return to the grid after missing the last few races and will be looking to make up lost ground while Hussain Umid Ali will be looking to improve on his 3rd place at the last round. In the class-within-a-class, Jonathan Mowatt and Patrick Jarjour will be intent on closing the gap to Knopjes in the DD2 Masters category.
The usual top protagonists will be fighting it out in the MAX class with Patrick Hannah keen to extend his Championship lead over Ameer Hassan and Alexandre Silanine while Round 4 victor, Abdullah Al Rawahi, will be looking to maximise his points haul after missing Rounds 2 & 3 while on international duty. Fellow international competitor, Tom Bale, also makes a welcome appearance and will no doubt figure among the front-runners all weekend. In the MAX Masters category Duncan Foster will be hoping to build on his impressive start to the season ahead of fellow contenders Raed Hassan and Abdulla Al Ali.
The Junior MAX class often enjoys some of the closest racing on the programme and this weekend all eyes will be on the trio of Pasqual Pook, Giulio Peroni and Taymour Kermanshahchi who have dominated the podium places during the opening part of the season. In his first full season Fraser Rose is knocking on the door, though, and 3rd place last time out shows that he is not just there to make up the numbers. Strong challenges are also expected from Ivan Berets, Khalid Al Wahaibi and Waheeb Al Kharusi.
The Mini MAX class is one of the closest of all in terms of points and Yusuf Moola will have his work cut out to hold onto his slender 8 point lead as Yahya Houston and Tehmur Chohan aim to seize the initiative over the 2 event days. Daniel Booth and Eliot Jones have shown that they will also be in the mix for top honours and will be keen to move up the leader board before the winter break.
In Micro MAX, Theo Kekati will try to wrestle the Championship lead away from Ziggy Kermanshahchi while fighting off the speedy intentions of Jamie Day, Sem Knopjes and Shehab Al Habsi who have all staked their individual claims for number one in recent weeks. The Random Grid format will spice things up even more as drivers will need to demonstrate real race craft to make their way past drivers that they may not be used to dealing with.
Round 6 will also include the young Bambino class which incorporates drivers as young as 5 years of age in a time trial format against the clock. Budding racers Kris Knopjes, Harry Hannam, Saqir Al Qassemi and Rashid Al Dhaheri will be joined by Shrey Holmukhe and Fahad Al Rawahi as they look to emulate their sporting heroes and prepare themselves to start racing in the years to come.
Practice starts at 1035hrs on both days with Heat racing running throughout before the Finals which commence around 1530hrs. Entrance is free for spectators.
The race schedules can be found below:
For more information please contact Al Ain Raceway on +971 (0) 3768 6662 or sales@alainraceway.com
