MOTORSPORT – SIX of Team Bahrain’s talented karters booked their places last night in their respective title-deciding races today in the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF) 2025, currently being held at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) in Sakhir.
Vedant Menon, Mohammed Alhasan, Yousif Alaali, Tariq Soofi, Shaikh Ahmed bin Saqer Al Khalifa, and Tye Mejia will all be in action on the concluding day of the week-long karting spectacle, which features nearly 400 of karting’s very best from 60 countries worldwide.
Menon, Alhasan, and Alaali will each be racing in the RMCGF’s E20 Senior final, while young Tariq will be in the Micro MAX final. Shaikh Ahmed qualified for the Mini MAX final and Mejia will compete in the Senior MAX final.
All are welcome to attend the last day of racing. Entry is free, and BIKC will be opening its gates from 10am.
Menon put himself in prime position to claim the kingdom’s first-ever podium in the RMCGF after powering to second overall amongst the E20 Seniors after last night’s pre-final. He is now set to start the final on the front row alongside pole-sitter Jannik Jakobs from Germany.
Menon put up a strong challenge for the pre-final win yesterday but was pipped at the finish by Jakobs by a mere 0.300 seconds. Alhasan and Alaali also impressed last night as they both placed in the pre-final’s top 10, with Alhasan claiming sixth and Alaali taking ninth. Alhasan was just 2.634s behind Jakobs, while Alaali finished 4.800s back.
Following the session and after taking into account all the results from this week’s qualifying practices, qualifying heats, and pre-finals, Menon came away with 155 points in second on the E20 Senior standings, right behind Jakobs with 190 points. Alhasan was sixth with 116 points and Alaali ninth on 93 points.
Meanwhile, Tariq narrowly missed out on a place in the Micro MAX top 10 after securing 12th on the grid for today’s final.
Tariq was classified 13th in his pre-final last night where he finished 3.501s behind race winner Albert Pharoah from Britain. His result earned him 30 points, which gave him a total of 79 after all sessions this week.
In the Mini MAX class, Shaikh Ahmed made it through to the final where he will start from 23rd on the grid. Shaikh Ahmed secured his place amongst the last remaining 36 drivers after being ranked 23rd amongst the 72 competitors in his category. He competed in pre-final A yesterday and was classified 13th, earning him enough points to finish on 103 and book his berth in the title-deciding race.
Also amongst the Mini MAX karters was Team Bahrain’s Jude Andrews, who ranked 45th overall and missed out on the final. He finished with 53 points after going 31st in yesterday’s pre-final B.
In the Senior MAX category, Mejia was 33rd from the combined 72 racers competing in last night’s two pre-finals, and will therefore occupy that starting position on the grid.
Mejia was classified 21st amongst yesterday’s A participants, giving him 16 points for a total of 84 from all of this week’s sessions.
Elsewhere amongst Team Bahrain’s karters, Demir Abali ranked 61st overall and Rashid Hilal 69th in the Junior MAX standings after their pre-final races, while Abdulla Sajjad was 50th and Abdulqader Qasem 69th in the DD2 category.
Ahead of yesterday’s action on track, a parade of nations was held with all the participating karters and officials in this week’s RMCGF in attendance.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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