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Bahrain’s top talents display prowess in exciting fourth round of Rotax MAX karting
Bahrain’s top talents display prowess in exciting fourth round of Rotax MAX karting
- Enzo Younes, Rayyan Najjar, Jude Andrews, Musaad Albassam, and Abdulla Sajjad all claim victories in class as 2025/2026 BRMC season resumes at BIKC
The 2025/2026 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC) resumed over the weekend at Bahrain International Circuit’s (BIC) world-class grassroots motorsport facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC).
The Kingdom’s most talented karters battled it out along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track behind the wheel of their very own Rotax-powered machinery in a hugely exciting fourth round this season.
Emerging victorious in their respective competition classes were Enzo Younes in the Micro MAX category, Rayyan Najjar in the Mini MAX, Jude Andrews in the Junior MAX, Musaad Albassam in the Senior MAX, and Abdulla Sajjad in the DD2 MAX.
The meeting was organised by BIC, BIKC, the Bahrain Motor Federation, and the Bahrain Karting Commission.
Enzo topped the timesheet in all four Micro MAX sessions this round. He first set the pace in practice and then captured pole in qualifying practice. He then won the pre-final before taking the nine-lap final in a total time of nine minutes 22.575 seconds – a comfortable 7.157 seconds ahead of runner-up Sami Albandak. Rashid Almahroos joined them on the podium in class after finishing 10.674s from Enzo.
In the Mini MAX category, Hassan Baqer set the pace in practice and qualifying practice but Rayyan went on to win the pre-final. He then carried his momentum into the nine-lap final, where he took the chequered flag by a mere 0.707s ahead of Faisal Alnajjar in second. Rayyan’s winning time was 8:55.852. Rhys Daulat came third 1.982s back.
Jude was engaged in a tough battle with his close rivals this round. Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa led the Junior MAX field in practice but then Leopold Juch captured pole in qualifying practice. Shaikh Ahmed regained control by winning the pre-final, but then was unlucky in the 15-lap final where he finished first on the road but was handed a 15s penalty by the stewards. Jude therefore inherited the victory with a mark of 13:57.658. He was followed in the classification by Leopold 11.736s behind, while Sacha Rollett climbed the podium in third 12.389s adrift. Shaikh Ahmed had to settle for fifth place.
The Senior MAX too saw plenty of heated competition with the BRMC’s biggest grid of 18 talented karters in the meeting. Luca Houghton was the pace-setter in practice but Albassam then beat him by two-tenths to top the qualifying practice timesheet. Albassam then did well to maintain his impressive form to take the pre-final before storming to the chequered flag in the final to win from pole in 13:27.754 after 15 laps. Albassam built a 5.574s gap at the finish ahead of Houghton, while Yousif Alaali claimed third place 13.168s adrift.
In the DD2 MAX, Abdulqader Qasem set the practice pace before Rakan Alfayez clinched pole with the best qualifying practice time. But in the pre-final, Sajjad beat Qasem by just under a second for first place, and then also won the 15-lap final from pole in 13:21.391. Qasem followed as runner-up 7.157s behind, while Alfayez rounded out the top three 7.701s back.
At the end of the day’s action, the winners in each class were presented their respective trophies in the podium ceremonies.
The BRMC features a total of eight rounds in its 2025/2026 calendar. Round five is scheduled to take place on 30 January, followed by rounds six and seven on back-to-back days this 13 and 14 February. That will set the stage for the championship finale on 17 April at BIKC, when the BRMC’s newest champions will be crowned.
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