Sakhir Rotax karting off to hot start as Smith, Houghton and Barbier each claim doubles

Sakhir Rotax karting off to hot start as Smith, Houghton and Barbier each claim doubles

Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), the Middle East’s world-class grassroots motorsport facility, hosted a rip-roaring opening two rounds of the 2022 Sakhir Rotax MAX Challenge (SRMC), held over the weekend at the BIKC premises in Sakhir.

The back-to-back meetings brought together the Kingdom’s leading racers of different ages and nationalities, all of whom were competing in their very own Rotax-powered karts.

Three youngsters came away with fantastic doubles, including Lewis Smith in the Senior MAX class, Luca Kane Houghton in the Junior MAX category and Levin Barbier in the Micro MAX. Joining them on the podium with a win apiece in the Mini MAX class were round one winner Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa and round two victor Isa Almoayed.

Racing in both meetings took place along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track.

In round one, Fahad Almuqla got the better of Smith by 0.019 seconds in Senior MAX Qualifying and then won the Pre-Final by just 0.101s ahead of Shaikha Haya bint Duaij bin Salman Al Khalifa, with Smith in third.

But in the 15-lap Final, Smith took over as the leader on the third lap and held on all the way to the chequered flag, winning in a total time of 13 minutes 48.724 seconds. Joining Smith on the podium was Oliver Kruglov, who 0.841s behind as the runner-up, and Almuqla, who had to settle for third 0.998s back.

Shaikha Haya was classified fourth, Tijl Joep Huisman fifth, Leen Alarafi sixth and Omar Alderayan seventh.

In the Junior MAX category, Houghton was the leader at the start, taking pole for the Pre-Final. But there, he could only manage third place as Mohammed Alhasan clinched the win and Gracie Rose Grantham was the runner-up.

However, Houghton recovered masterfully in the Final, although not without a tight battle all the way until the end with Alhasan and Gracie Rose. Houghton powered to the front on the 15th and last lap and won in 13:51.631. Gracie Rose followed close behind 0.110s adrift, while Alhasan was third 6.025s back with a five-second penalty.

Completing the Junior MAX classification were Khalid Alnajjar, Abdulqader Qasem, Tye Mejia, Jaber Alsabah, Sager Almousherji and Yousif Alali.

In the Micro MAX class, Ali Almoayed finished ahead of Levin both in Qualifying and in the Pre-Final, with Mohammed Waleed in third. In the nine-lap Final, Ali went on to take the chequered flag but Levin inherited the victory as Ali and Mohammed were each handed five-second penalties.

Levin thus claimed first place in 9:36.295, 2.627s ahead of Ali and 13.779s in front of Mohammed.

In the Mini MAX, Isa Almoayed was the top finisher in Qualifying but Shaikh Ahmed claimed the Pre-Final. Shaikh Ahmed then rode that momentum into the nine-lap Final, powering to the front on the first lap and never looking back. Shaikh Ahmed went on to win in 8:56.246, while Isa was 9.547s behind and Rashid Kanoo 12.301s from the victor for the final podium place.

Thrilling second round

The hugely exciting SRMC season-opener set the stage for another action-packed timetable of racing the following day.

Almuqla got things off on a positive note in round two by capturing pole in the Senior MAX Qualifying session, but it was Smith who won the Pre-Final by just 0.534s from Kruglov.

In the Final, Smith was once again challenged by Almuqla and the pair exchanged places up front twice across the 15-lap sprint. Smith was the beneficiary on the second occasion as it was then when he took the lead for good on lap 10. He charged on to take the chequered flag and won in 13:48.800 to complete his season-opening double.