BIKC hosts red hot Rotax battles in eventful fourth round of national karting sprints

The temperatures were cool but the competition was red hot in an eventful fourth round of the 2019/2020 Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC), held over the weekend at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.

Five drivers claimed hard-earned victories in the BKSC’s Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge, including Rashed Almuammari, Osama Azzouka, Lewis Smith, Shanthosh Kumar and Rashid Alkhalifa.

Almuammari won the Senior Max class and Azzouka the Max Masters, while Smith triumphed in the Junior Max category, Kumar in the Mini Max and Alkhalifa in the Micro Max class.

All the racing took place along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre Commission International de Karting track.

Almuammari triumphed amongst the Senior Max participants with a time of 14 minutes 02.332 seconds over 15 laps. He started the race in second position alongside pole-sitter Fahad Alkhaled, but was able to gain the lead on the seventh lap. Alkhaled dropped all the way to third during the sprint but was able to battle back and pass Mohammed Mattar to regain one place. Alkhaled eventually finished second 0.144s behind Almuammari, while Mattar was third 3.328s back.

In the Max Masters, Azzouka won despite getting two separate five-second penalties for a jump start and for causing a collision. He completed his 15-lap sprint in 14:36.180 and enjoyed a 16.753s gap ahead of runner-up Fred Clark.

Smith won the Junior Max class. He was engaged in a tough battle with Fahad Al Muqla through 15 laps, and Al Muqla was originally the first to the finish. But he was given a five-second penalty for his front bumper not being fixed, handing the win to Smith and dropping him all the way to last place.

Smith triumphed with a total race time of 14:20.159. Abdullah Aldossery was the runner-up 0.729s behind, while Sulaiman Alkandrei came third 1.301s back.

In Mini Max class, Kumar inherited the win from Luca Kane Houghton, who crossed the finish line after eight laps in first from pole but was disqualified after stewards decided that his kart had not conformed to the technical regulations, with his ignition oil not being of legal length. Kumar had a winning race time of 8:14.574. Tye Mejia was the runner-up a distant 12.040s from first. He had also received a five-second penalty for his front bumper not being fixed. Mohamed Alhassan was third 30.827s back.

In the Micro Max class, Alkhalifa emerged victorious after Gracie Rose Grantham, who had originally finished ahead, was given a five-second penalty for her front bumper not being fixed. That put Alkhalifa in the winner’s position with a time of 8:52.192 over eight laps. Khaled Alnajjar was a narrow second just 0.111s behind, while Louis El Nabulsi finished third 0.354s back. Grantham had to settle for fifth place.

Following the fourth round of action, there were no changes at the top of the championship standings in any of the BRMMC’s competition categories. Alkhaled continued to lead the standings in the Senior Max championship ahead of Mattar, Azzouka remained in front of Clark in the Max Masters, and Smith led Aldossery in the Junior Max category.

Kumar maintained his position ahead of Houghton in the Mini Max, while Grantham was still the leader in the Micro Max championship.

The 2019/2020 BKSC features seven rounds in all. Saturday’s fourth round was the first of the new calendar year. Action in the BKSC is scheduled to resume with Round Five on February 8, while the sixth and penultimate meeting of the season will be held on March 7. The championship-finale then takes place on April 4.