MOTORSPORT – Team Bahrain’s karters put on impressive performances last night in the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF) 2025, currently being held at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.
Vedant Menon, Yousif Alaali, and Tariq Soofi headlined the results of the kingdom’s talented competitors yesterday, with each ranking in the top 10 of their respective categories in their first qualifying heats this meeting.
Vedant and Tariq both also posted the fastest laps in their respective sessions, showing their sensational pace and limitless potential as they go up against the world’s best in grassroots motor racing.
Vedant and Yousif are competing in this week’s RMCGF in the E20 Senior category, and they were classified fifth and sixth, respectively, last night in the first of two qualifying heats.
Vedant completed the session 3.942 seconds behind heat winner Jannik Jakobs from Germany, while also setting the session’s fastest lap of 55.432s.
Alaali followed right behind, going 5.055s from the top. Fellow-Bahraini Mohamed Alhasan came a strong 12th in the heat 7.026s from the leader.
With those results, Vedant scored 34 points, Yousif had 32, and Mohammed came away with 25.
Following today’s second qualifying heat, the points from both sessions will be collated and the combined classification will determine the grid for the E20 Senior pre-final, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow evening.
Meanwhile, young Tariq was in fine form yesterday in the Micro MAX class.
Team Bahrain’s youngest competitor took his place in the top 10 in their first qualifying heat with ninth on the classification, going 4.014s from leading finisher Benjamin Karajkovic from the UAE.
Tariq outshone the rest of the pack by registering the session’s best lap time of one minute 02.136 seconds as he claimed 28 points. The Micro MAX’s second qualifying heat will also be held today.
Elsewhere amongst Team Bahrain’s karters yesterday, Demir Abali came 33rd and Rashid Hilal was 36th in the first qualifying heat for C and D drivers in the Junior MAX class; Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa was 38th and Jude Andrews 49th in the combined timesheet of Mini MAX qualifying practice; Tye Mejia was 39th in Senior MAX combined qualifying practice; and Abdulqader Qasem ranked 48th with Abdulla Sajjad 69th in DD2 combined qualifying practice.
The E20 Senior, Micro MAX, E20 Master, and DD2 Master all feature just two qualifying heats in the RMCGF; while the rest of the classes have three qualifying heats each. The remaining sessions are scheduled to be held today, setting the stage for tomorrow’s pre-finals and Saturday’s finals.
The RMCGF 2025 is one of the biggest events in the world of karting held each year, and it has brought nearly 400 of the sport’s leading karters to the kingdom this week, representing 60 nations worldwide.
All are welcome to attend and enjoy the high-intensity, wheel-to-wheel racing at BIKC. Entry is free and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
BIKC will be opening its gates to fans from 10am until the end of track activity on each day, except tomorrow, when spectators can access the circuit from 4.30pm.
This year’s RMCGF marks the third time in five years that Rotax karting’s most prestigious meeting is being held in Sakhir, following the success of the previous events in 2023 and 2021.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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