29 September 2016
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The Rotax Invitational has become the established curtain-raiser for the UAE kart racing calendar and, aside from providing an opportunity for some early season silverware, is seen as an official warm up for the start of the UAE Rotax MAX Challenge. With some drivers still on international duty, it gives others a chance to shine. It also provides a great opportunity for new drivers to gain some valuable experience and existing ones to 'blow out the cobwebs' after a hot summer of relative inactivity.
Jakob Robinson seemed to be one of the drivers putting in the hard yards over the summer months. He dominated the MAX category from the offset, putting himself on Pole Position with a Qualifying time that beat even the quicker and more powerful DD2 drivers! For the most part Robinson made it look easy as he steered his Scuderia Tony Kart to victory in the Heat, Pre-Final and Final, each time with a considerable margin between himself and his closest competitor. He has definitely established himself as the man to beat at Round 1 of the UAE Rotax MAX Challenge next weekend.
Behind Robinson, the real battle in the MAX class saw Amna Al Qubaisi, Jan Richtermeier, Andrew Hunt and Sagar Bohara pushing for podium places. All four were in the running until the Lap 5 of the Final when the inspired but ultimately luckless Hunt developed a technical issue which would lead to his early retirement. This opened the door for Bohara who found himself in 2nd place with Al Qubaisi and Richtermeier in close pursuit. After trailing closely for a few laps Al Qubaisi made her move along the main straight, taking 2nd place from Bohara into Turn 1 as Richtermeier also began to apply serious pressure. This new battle for 3rd went all the way to the line, with Richtermeier managing to make a move stick on Lap 12 and Bohara having to settle for 4th at chequered flag, all the more impressive after completing the race with a broken chassis.
There were strong performances throughout the field with a few new faces on the grid, including Daivik Vishu who picked up the award for Best Novice.
Running at the back of the MAX grid, the more powerful, 2-speed DD2 class was very evenly matched with veteran drivers Hussain Umid Ali and Kevin Day taking centre stage. Day took top honours by the narrowest of margins in Qualifying but Umid Ali turned the tables in the Heat race, taking the win by a little over a second. The Pre-Final was even closer as Day capitalised on a sluggish start by Umid Ali to take the early lead. These two continued to swap places at the head of the field with Sean Murphy, Nabil Hussain and Mohammed Al Shamsi in close attendance. At the line, Day's advantage was just 0.017 second but this was enough to give him Pole Position for the Final. Spectators were entertained by more frantic action between the lead pair in the Final with Murphy also vying for the outright win until a collision with a back-marker dropped him out of contention. Day looked in fine form, clocking up the fastest lap of the race, but Umid Ali was able to successfully defend to take a hard-fought win. Unfortunately Day was subsequently disqualified for a technical infringement, promoting novice driver Nabil Hussain to 2nd place - just reward for his strong performances throughout the day - and Murphy inheriting a surprise 3rd following his earlier misfortune.
Lucas Petersson wowed the crowds with a spectacular Pole lap in Qualifying, the fastest of anyone on the day! Emulating Jakob Robinson's performance, he was in total command throughout the Heat, Pre-Final and Final, taking a clean sweep of wins on his way to securing the top spot on the podium. He wasn't allowed to dominate quite like his MAX counterpart, however, as fierce competition ensued from the likes of Denis Bahar, Eliot Jones, Lachlan Robinson and Tai Zulberti. Liam Crystal was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the day after sustaining an arm injury in testing the day before but, after being pronounced fit to race, he saved his best for last as he found himself in 2nd behind Petersson in the early laps of the Final with Lachlan Robinson in hot pursuit. Petersson maintained relentless consistency to remain ahead of that pairing and took the win by a fine margin while, with a lap to go, Crystal began to turn his attention to defence of 2nd place. With just 3 corners remaining Crystal was surprised by a quite brilliant move from Robinson who seized the position and runners up spot as Crystal was made to settle for 3rd. Bahar was made to work extremely hard to keep 4th place ahead of Connor Donovan, Eliot Jones and Hamda Al Qubaisi as the rest of the Juniors finished in close contention.
In the Mini MAX category Jamie Day, Khaled Ray Saab, Nadim Khneisser and Theo Kekati all had the podium in sight. Kekati though, had it all to do, as he had been excluded from the results in the Pre-Final following a technical infringement. Starting at the back of the grid he charged hard through the first few laps to reach 4th and set about narrowing the gap to the lead trio of Day, Saab and Khneisser who were all traveling at serious pace. The podium battle was sensational as the drivers traded places for lap after lap until Day secured the lead with a couple of laps to go and somehow defended to the flag, taking the win from Saab, Khneisser and Kekati – the four karts separated by just 1 second! Sadly, some contention followed as Day was hit with a 10 second penalty for a Start Line infringement which was subsequently rescinded after appeal – but this was only confirmed after the presentation had taken place. Despite the late controversy, the Mini MAX class looks set to be an awesome prospect for both driver and spectator this season.
Some of the closest and most exciting racing of the day came from the Micro MAX drivers. Rashid Al Dhaheri, a motorsport celebrity despite his tender years, was able to put his kart on Pole Position in Qualifying - hugely impressive on his first Micro MAX outing. Less than one tenth of a second separated the top 3 of Al Dhaheri, Oscar Mc Elroy and Finn Farrell-Morton. The pattern continued in the Heat race with the top five drivers crossing the line within half a second of each other (Georgie Zouein and Diaraf Keinde mixing it with the top 3 qualifiers). By the Pre-Final the spectators were drooling as they were treated to overtake after overtake with skill and precision mixed with opportunism and bravado. Zouein somehow managed to wrest his way to the front and was leading on the exit of the final corner when a perfectly timed slipstream-move from Farrell-Morton saw both drivers cross the line absolutely together, the timing system declaring Farrell-Morton the victor by just 0.002 second and only 1 second covering the same top 5! The major disappointment of the Final saw McElroy spin and lose time and places after contact with Keinde on Lap 3; Keinde himself then retiring from the race on Lap 7 after coming to a halt on track. This left Farrell-Morton, Zouein and Al Dhaheri with the responsibility of entertaining the crowd and they did not disappoint! With Al Dhaheri lurking with intent in 3rd, Zouein and Farrell-Morton were inseparable as they pushed each other all the way. With Zouein managing to position his kart perfectly all the way round the final lap, he looked odds-on to take the win as he emerged from the final corner in front. But, in a carbon-copy of the conclusion of the Pre-Final, Farrell-Morton tucked in behind Zouein, taking advantage of the slipstream and timing his move to perfection again as he pulled out and alongside with metres to spare. Zouein's raised hand as he crossed the line showed that he thought that he had done enough but, again, the timing system voted in favour of Farrell-Morton, the gap this time 0.005 second with Al Dhaheri just 0.3s adrift. Scintillating.
In the Bambino Time Trials, Bertie Gibbons topped all three sessions to take maximum points available. Lennard Titica was the second most consistent driver taking the runners-up spot on the podium. Adam Awan and Emma Titica finished with the same number of points, but third place was officially awarded to Awan on account of his faster lap time overall.
Next week we are back at Al Ain Raceway where a lot more than just trophies will be up for grabs as it is Round One of the UAE Rotax MAX Challenge 2016-17.
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