MOTORSPORT – THE second round of the 2026-27 Bahrain Rotax MAX Challenge (BRMC) was hosted over the weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir featuring the kingdom’s best karters.
The event featured exciting racing under lights at Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC), with winners in the BRMC’s various categories including Sami Albandak in the Micro MAX class, Abdulaziz Alsarraf in the Mini MAX, Faisal Alnajjar in the Junior MAX, Demir Abali in the Senior MAX, and Rakan Alfayez in the DD2 MAX.
The event was organised by BIC and BIKC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain Karting Commission.
The competitors battled along BIKC’s 1.414-kilometre CIK-FIA track, giving strong performances in their Rotax-powered machinery.
In the Micro MAX category, Sami had an impressive round, setting the pace in free practice and qualifying practice before winning the heat and pre-final. He then took the chequered flag in the nine-lap final in a winning time of nine minutes 31.682 seconds, crossing the finish line 5.103 seconds ahead of runner-up Henry Toon.
In the Mini MAX battles, Abdulaziz started strongly by topping the free practice timesheet, but was beaten by three-hundredths of a second by Ehan Anjam in qualifying practice.
Alsarraf fought back to win the heat, then finished four-hundredths of a second behind Liam Boyd in the pre-final.
He was not to be denied in the final, however, powering to first place in 8:57.643 after nine laps, 0.685s ahead of Enzo Younes. Ehan joined them on the podium in third place, 1.249s behind Alsarraf.
Faisal claimed victory in the Junior MAX class after leading in free practice. Bader Faisal then topped qualifying practice and won the heat, but Faisal took charge when it mattered most, winning the pre-final before carrying his momentum into the 15-lap final, which he clinched in 13:58.037. Bader finished second, 2.013s behind, while Rayyan Najjar took third place, 2.362s back.
In the Senior MAX class, which featured the BRMC’s largest grid over the weekend, Abali dominated, winning every session from free practice and qualifying practice to the heat and pre-final. He completed his sweep of the round by taking the 15-lap final in 13:34.096, 1.096s ahead of Vedant Menon, with Khaled Najjar taking third, 3.654s behind.
The DD2 MAX was closely contested before Alfayez secured victory in the final. Mohammed Alhasan set the pace in free practice, Leopold Juch topped qualifying practice, and Alhasan won the heat. Alfayez finished strongly, winning the pre-final and the 15-lap final in 13:20.602. Juch finished second, 0.180s behind, while Alhasan came third, 2.465s back.
Following the action, the top three in each BRMC category received their trophies during the podium ceremonies at BIKC.
Four of the winners from the second round, held last weekend, made it back-to-back victories after also winning in the opening round the week before. They were Sami in Micro MAX, Faisal in Junior MAX, Abali in Senior MAX, and Alfayez in DD2 MAX. Enzo won the Mini MAX in the BRMC’s opening round.
The 2026-27 BRMC calendar features eight rounds, culminating in February next year. The karters will return for round three on November 20, followed by rounds four and five on December 4 and 11, marking the final events of the year.
The competition resumes in 2027 with rounds six and seven on January 8 and 16, respectively, ahead of the championship finale on February 5.
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