Champions crowned following season-finale in national karting sprints at BIKC

Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) crowned over the weekend the champions of the 2018/2019 Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC). 

This season’s title-winners were determined following the completion of the sixth and final round of racing held at BIKC in Sakhir.

Five drivers emerged from the BKSC’s Bahrain Rotax Max Mojo Challenge (BRMMC), while another came from the Bahrain Sprint Sodi W Series (BSSWS).

Among the BRMMC’s champions were Mohammed Mattar of Absolute Racing, Essa Aldossary of ED Racing Team and the DoJoMoto Racing trio of Fahad Alkhaled, Santhosh Kumar and Luca Kane Houghton.

Meanwhile, Ali Baslar was the title winner in the BSSWS.

Mattar claimed his crown in the BRMMC Max category despite finishing the season with the same points total as Absolute Racing teammate Raed Raffii. Both drivers scored 148 points for the championship, but Mattar secured the title having claimed more race victories than Raffii.

Mattar completed the campaign with six race wins, while Raffii had one. Amongst Mattar’s triumphs was his fine result in the season-finale, when he claimed first place in the Max class which was crucial for his title bid.

Mattar was able to narrowly beat Hussain Hasan and Raffii to the chequered flag, going 2.212s ahead of Hasan and 3.788s in front of Raffii.

Hasan, also of Absolute Racing, was able to claim third overall on the season standings following the weekend’s meeting, finishing with 143 points.

Aldossary was the champion in the Max Master category after finishing the championship with a dominant 181 points. Fred Clark was his closest challenger with 124 points, while Osama Azoouka came third on 88 points.

Azoouka was the winner in final Max Master race of the season, finishing ahead of Aldossary and Clark.

Alkhaled led a DoJoMoto Racing one-two atop the BRMMCs Junior standings. He won his title with 163 points, just five ahead of teammate Fahad Almuqla. Alkhaled ended his season in style by taking the win in round six, with Almuqla being classified in fourth place. Lewis Smith and Omar Aldereyaan completed the Junior podium for that last race. Aldereyaan was also the third-placer for the season with 118 points.

In the Mini class, Kumar emerged as the new champion after collecting a total of 188 points during his racing campaign. Kumar was able to finish third in his class in a tightly contested final round, in which the top three was separated by less than a second. Xanda Topp claimed first place in the sprint while Matteo Quintarelli followed 0.796s behind for an Absolute Racing one-two. Kumar was third 0.903s back.

Quintarelli was the runner-up in the championship with 134 points. Jacob Topp was third on 116.

Houghton completed the BRMMC’s drivers’ champions by winning the Micro class with 209 points. Gracie Rose Grantham of Absolute Racing was second with 175 points, while Houghton’s DoJoMoto teammate Louis Elnabulsi finished third on 144 points.

Houghton and Grantham were also the top two finishers in their season’s final race, with a dramatic 0.001s between them at the finish line. Louis Safa came third.

Aside from the drivers’ champions in the BRMMC, Absolute Racing were able to win the teams title in the Max, Mini and Micro categories. ED Racing Team won in the Max Master class while DoJoMoto Racing triumphed in the Junior category.

In the BSSWS, Baslar clinched his title by a narrow three-point margin. Key to his success was his race victory over the weekend, where he finished ahead of Rashid Almuammari, Mohamed Ameen and chief rival Abdulla Buhindi.

That final classification helped Baslar go to 83 points for the championship while Buhindi finished with 80. Almuammari came third overall with 54 points.

The weekend’s race winners were presented their respective trophies by officials from Bahrain International Circuit and BIKC at a podium ceremony. The title winners will be given their silverware at the end-of-season awards night, scheduled to be held soon.