BIC crowns 2025 champions of Sakhir Rotax MAX karting at BIKC

Jan Wozniak, Oliver Spencer, Shun Sekiguchi, Luca Houghton, and Musaad Albassam claim titles in their respective SRMC classes
Stage now set for 2025/2026 season of Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge, flagging off with first of eight rounds on 31 October

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, crowned over the weekend the champions of the 2025 Sakhir Rotax MAX Challenge (SRMC).

Emerging as title winners following the SRMC’s third and fourth rounds were Jan Wozniak in the Micro MAX class, Oliver Spencer in the Mini MAX, Shun Sekiguchi in the Junior MAX, Luca Houghton in the Senior MAX, and Musaad Albassam in the MAX DD2.

They each secured their respective crowns after stellar performances in back-to-back meetings held Friday and Saturday at BIC’s world-class grassroots motor racing facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC).

The SRMC was held as a prelude to the 2025/2026 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC), the Kingdom’s premier karting championship, which kicks off at the end of this month at BIKC.

It also took place to help Bahrain’s top karters and others from abroad warm up ahead of their highly anticipated participation in the upcoming Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF), which will be hosted by BIC and BIKC this 29 November to 6 December. The RMCGF is one of the biggest international karting events held annually, and Bahrain will be welcoming more than 400 of the world’s best Rotax karters from over 60 nations, who will be competing over a full week in Sakhir.

Wozniak won the SRMC Micro MAX title after finishing the season with 70 points. Charlie Page was the runner-up, also on 70 points, while Maksymillian Raczkowski finished third with 58 points.

Wozniak wrapped up his SRMC campaign in style with victories in the concluding two meetings. In both events, he triumphed in the finals ahead of Raczkowski to do enough to secure his championship. Wozniak won in round three by 3.773 seconds, and then took round four 1.568s ahead of Raczkowski at the finish.

In Mini MAX class, Spencer was the champion after scoring 132 points across the SRMC’s four rounds. Jude Andrews finished second with 89 points while Rayyan Najjar came third on 73.

Spencer also enjoyed back-to-back victories over the weekend, taking the round three final a mere 0.160s ahead of Brodi Dowling, with Andrews in third. In round four, Dowling repeated as runner-up – again with a narrow margin from Spencer of 0.126s – while Rayyan Najjar joined them on the podium.

Sekiguchi was the Junior MAX title winner with 103 points, while Nathan Joseph followed on 86 points in second place. Rashid Hilal completed the top three with 75 points.

In round three, Sekiguchi had to settle for second place as Eason Tseng took the win in their final with a narrow 0.923s gap, while Hilal finished behind them in third. Tseng then triumphed again in round four, 0.604s ahead of Ahmed Jawed. Sacha Rollett came third, while Sekiguchi finished sixth.

Houghton took the Senior MAX crown with 126 points from the SRMC season. Tye Mejia finished as runner-up with 83 points, and Vedant Menon was third on 67 points.

Tino Sidler beat Houghton to the chequered flag by 0.483s in the third round over the weekend, with Mejia crossing the line in third. But Houghton turned the tables in round four, winning ahead of Sindler by 5.290 seconds, with Vedant Menon claiming the final podium step.

Albassam came away with the MAX DD2 title after scoring 121 points in the campaign. Abdulqader Qasem followed on 80, while Raoul Sadi was third with 79 points.

Albassam captured the victory in round three by 3.847s from Talal Alattas, as Sadi finished in third place. In round four, Edgar Vilcans took the win by 0.788s from runner-up Sebastian Boyd, while Albassam climbed the podium once again in third.

With the completion of the SRMC, the stage is now set for the BRMC season. It is set to feature eight rounds, flagging off on 31 October and continuing until April of next year.