BIC hosts back-to-back rounds as battles hot up in Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge

Enzo Younes, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa, and Rakan Alfayez all take double victories
Other winners over the weekend were Leo Saruhan, Tariq Soofi, Demir Abali, and Luca Houghton

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, staged back-to-back rounds of thrilling karting action over the weekend in the 2025/2026 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC).

BIC’s world-class grassroots motorsport facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), was the setting for the heated wheel-to-wheel battles in the BRMC season’s second and third rounds.

Amongst the double winners were Enzo Younes in the Micro MAX class, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa in the Junior MAX category, and Rakan Alfayez in the DD2 MAX.

Other victors in round two were Leo Saruhan in the Mini MAX and Demir Abali in the Senior MAX, while in round three Tariq Soofi won in the Mini MAX and Luca Houghton took the Senior MAX win.

The two meetings were organised and run by BIC and BIKC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain Karting Commission.

In round two, Enzo triumphed in the Micro MAX final after completing the nine-lap sprint in 9mins 22.673secs.

Leo followed suit in the Mini MAX category, taking the chequered flag in their nine-lap final in 9:00.440. He was less than a second ahead of the rest of the top four in a tight finish, with Rhys Daulat 0.284s behind in second and Faisal Alnajjar third 0.612s back.

Shaikh Ahmed took the 15-lap Junior MAX final in a time of 13:56.686. Leopold Juch finished second 2.104s behind, while Ryan Suckling was third 3.410s back.

Abali was victorious in the 15-lap Senior final with a time of 13:30.910 – 1.716s in front of Khaled Najjar in second. Musaad Albassam completed the podium placers 1.992s from Abali.

In the DD2 MAX class, Alfayez won his final in 13:28.045 after 15 laps. He had a huge gap of 16.149s from runner-up Abdulqader Qasem, while Talal Alattas came third 23.853s adrift.

In the BRMC’s third round, Enzo won the Micro MAX final in 9:24.272 after nine laps to complete his double. Rashid Almahroos came second 9.969s behind.

Tariq triumphed in the nine-lap Mini MAX final in 8:50.328. He enjoyed a comfortable 7.341s gap from Rhys, who was the runner-up, while Faisal came third 7.606s adrift.

Shaikh Ahmed secured his back-to-back wins after taking the Junior MAX final in 13:46.370 after 15 laps. Leopold was again second 4.958s behind and Ryan third 11.085s back.

Houghton took the chequered flag in the 15-lap Senior MAX final in 13:28.211. Mohammed Alhasan followed 3.501s back and Najjar was third 5.493s adrift.

Alfayez won the DD2 MAX for the second straight round in 13:16.031 after 15 laps – 4.656s ahead of Qasem with Alattas in third 19.055s back.

The BRMC features a total of eight rounds in its 2025/2026 calendar. This past weekend’s double-header was the final action of this calendar year. The championship will resume in 2026 with round four on 10 January, followed by round five on 30 January. Round six is then set for 13 February, and then the seventh and penultimate round will be held on 28 March. That will pave the way for the championship final, scheduled for 18 April at BIKC.