Rayyan Najjar and Rakan Alfayez claim double victories in back-to-back Rotax karting rounds

Rayyan Najjar and Rakan Alfayez claim double victories in back-to-back Rotax karting rounds

• Other competitors to take victories in BRMC’s sixth and seventh meetings were Ahmed Al Mudahka, Enzo Younes, Leopold Juch, Jude Andrews, Demir Abali, and Rashid Hilal

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, held over the weekend exciting back-to-back rounds in the 2025/2026 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC), the Kingdom’s premier karting championship.

Rayyan Najjar and Rakan Al Fayez both came away with double wins in their respective BRMC classes. Rayyan triumphed in the Mini MAX category in both meetings while Al Fayez won twice in the DD2 MAX.

Taking a win apiece in the other divisions were Ahmed Al Mudahka and Enzo Younes in the Micro MAX class, Leopold Juch and Jude Andrews in the Junior MAX, and Demir Abali and Rashid Hilal in the Senior MAX category.

Racing was held along the 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track of BIC’s world-class grassroots motorsport facility, Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC).

Both the sixth and seventh rounds of this season’s BRMC were organised by BIC and BIKC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation and Bahrain Karting Commission.

In round six, Ahmed gained the lead midway through the nine-lap Micro MAX final and went on to win in nine minutes 26.910 seconds. He finished just 0.192s ahead of runner-up Sami Albandak, while Enzo climbed the podium in third 1.699s from Ahmed.

In the Mini MAX final, also held over nine laps, Rayyan triumphed after powering to the front in the first lap. He held on from there to take the chequered flag in 8:59.146. Rayyan finished 0.151s from Faisal Alnajjar in second place, while Rhys Daulat completed the podium in third 3.517s adrift.

Leopold claimed the Junior MAX victory after he was promoted to the top of the classification following some penalties from his rivals. He was the winner after 15 laps in 14:04.216 – 5.951s in front of runner-up Bader Faisal. Jude had to settle for third with a 6.024s gap from first.

Abali took his Senior MAX victory in dramatic fashion, surging to the lead on the very last of 15 laps. He crossed the line in 13:29.595, pipping Luca Houghton to the chequered flag by 0.533s. Khaled Najjar came third 2.100s behind amongst the highly competitive 17-karter field – the BRMC’s largest for the round.

In the DD2 MAX’s 15-lap final, Alfayez took first place from pole position in 13:21.178. Abdulqader Qasem was the runner-up 2.761s back, while Mohammed Almahroos was third a distant 19.994s from Alfayez.