Champions crowned in Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals 2021 at BIKC

Champions crowned in Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals 2021 at BIKC

• Title winners include Tomass Stolcermanis, Tereza Babickova, Arata Endo, Nikita Ljubimov, Martijn Van Leeuwen, Morgan Riche and Oscar Pellemele
• Bahrain’s Mohammed Mattar puts on spectacular performance in gaining 25 positions in DD2 Master Final
• Bahrain karters Fahad Alkhaled and Lewis Smith in Senior MAX, along with Luca Kane Houghton in Mini MAX, also impress in their races

The Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals 2021 wrapped up in spectacular fashion today at Bahrain International Circuit’s (BIC) state-of-the-art karting facility, with the world’s most talented karters battling it out in their respective high-intensity Finals.

Seven title-deciding races were held along Bahrain International Karting Circuit’s (BIKC) 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track, and the winners were crowned the newest champions of their Rotax MAX competition categories.

Those who triumphed at the end of the week-long programme of racing included Tomass Stolcermanis in the Junior MAX class, Tereza Babickova in the Senior MAX, Arata Endo in the Mini MAX, Nikita Ljubimov in the Micro MAX, Martijn Van Leeuwen in the DD2 category, Morgan Riche in the DD2 Master, and Oscar Pellemele in the EKART Senior category for electric karts.

All of the winners and those who joined them on the podium were presented their respective trophies in an awarding ceremony held after all the action and attended by BIKC Manager Ali Abbas.

In the Junior MAX Final, Stolcermanis from Latvia emerged victorious after completing the 18-lap Final in a time of 17 minutes 02.061 seconds. He won from pole, and was 0.915 seconds ahead of runner-up Jayden Thien from the Netherlands at the finish. Kai Rillaerts from Belgium came third 1.180s behind.
In the Senior MAX class, Babickova from the Czech Republic made the most of his leading grid position to win in 18:59.767 after 21 laps. Callum Bradshaw from Great Britain followed as the runner-up 3.080s behind after also starting from the front row. Fellow-Briton Mark Kimber was third 5.056s back.

Bahrain’s Fahad Alkhaled had a fantastic Final, finishing 13th after gaining nine places during the race. He finished 16.775s from the winner. Also competing for Bahrain, Lewis Smith also had a fine performance after moving up eight places to take 27th on the final classification, 28.777s from first.

In the Mini MAX, Endo from Japan triumphed after 14 laps in a time of 13:49.081. He had started from third on the grid, but was able to get ahead in a tight finish. Borys Lyzen from Poland was a mere 0.116s behind in second place, while Scott Marsh from Great Britain came third 1.908s back. Bahrain’s Luca Kane Houghton put in an impressive performance, gaining four places on the final classification from his row 14 starting position for 23rd amongst the 36 drivers. He could have ranked higher but was given a five-second time penalty to finish 16.334s behind Endo.