Raffii wins in Max class of Rotax karting sprints round at BIKC

Raed Raffii of Absolute Racing won a hotly contested final in the Max category to highlight a thrilling second round of the Bahrain Rotax Mojo Max Challenge (BRMMC) at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.

The BRMMC is a part of the 2018/2019 Bahrain Karting Sprint Championship (BKSC), which pits some of the kingdom’s top karting talents against one another in different classes.

While Raffii was victorious in the meeting’s most competitive division, Dojomoto Racing had three of their team’s drivers win in their respective groups.

Fahad Alkhaled claimed first place in the Juniors category, while Shanthosh Kumar won in the Mini class and Luca Kane Houghton topped the classification in the Micro division.

Fred Clark rounded out the winners by taking the chequered flag in the Max Masters class.

Meanwhile, Najashi Rashdan set a new track record during the meeting. He clocked a fastest lap of 55.765 seconds during the Pre-Final of the Max category.

The season’s second round took place around BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) Track.

Raffii had a stunning victory in the Max category after previously missing out on first place in both Qualifying and in the Pre-Final. He had his best, though, when it mattered the most, finishing first in the 15-lap finale in 14 minutes 20.721 seconds and winning by a narrow margin over two other competitors.

Muayyad Albandi of Dojomoto was a close runner-up. He finished a mere 0.350 seconds behind Raffii. Hussain Ala’ali was third for Racing Bahrain, classified 0.594s back.

Rashdan also had the fastest lap in the final of 56.013s, but had to settle for fifth.

Amongst the Junior karters, Alkhaled triumphed in their 15-lap sprint in 14:25.319. He was joined on the podium by Dojomoto teammate Fahad Al Muqla, who was the runner-up just 0.360s behind, and Absolute’s Omar Al Dereyaan, who was third 7.671s back.

Sulaiman Alkandari had the Juniors’ fastest lap of 56.824, but he could only manage fourth place.

In the Mini category, Shanthosh won the nine-lap final in 9:10.334. The Dojomoto driver was followed by a pair of Absolute karts, with Matteo Quintarelli in second 2.399s behind and Jacob Topp in third 8.179s off the winning pace.

Matteo posted their final’s fastest lap of 1:00.673 to add to his podium position.

Luca, meanwhile, topped the classification amongst the Micro participants with a winning time of 9:35.729. Finishing the nine laps behind the Dojomoto youngster were the Absolute pair of Gracie Rose Grantham who was 6.587s from first and Louis Safa who finished 16.579s adrift.

In the Max Masters class, Clark won in 14:42.122, finishing 5.914s ahead of runner-up Essa Aldossary.

With the second round complete, Raffii moved to first place on the BRMMC’s Max championship standings with 49 points. Aldossary leads the Max Masters with 59 points, Alkhaled tops the Juniors with 70 points, Kumar is setting the pace amongst the Mini drivers with 69 points, and Luca leads the Micro championship battle with 70 points.

Amongst the entrants, Racing Bahrain still has a massive lead in the Max category with 134 points, while Absolute Racing leads the Max Masters entrants with 35 points. Dojomoto Racing tops the Juniors entrants with 128 points, while Absolute Racing lead both the Mini and Micro entrants with 119 and 141 points, respectively.

This year’s BRMMC will crown two winners at the end of the season: the first is the drivers’ champion and the other is the entrant. There are seven rounds in all in the on-going campaign. Round three is up next on December 8, which will be the last event of the calendar year.

Round four kicks off 2019 on January 4, and then round five takes place more than a month later on February 8. The penultimate round of the championship is then scheduled for March 15, paving the way for the season finale on April 5.

Aside from the BRMMC, the BKSC also features action in the Bahrain Sodi Sprint World Series at BIKC.