Race Report – UAE RMC Round 3

18 Dec, 2025

The 107-strong entry for the third round of the 2025-2026 UAE Rotax Max Challenge at Al Ain Raceway was still in a joyous mood as official practice began with the United Arab Emirates continuing to celebrate their nations’ greatest ever performance at the Rotax Grand Finals in Bahrain just a handful of days earlier.

In addition to the paddock vibes and a shift to Al Ain’s F1 Circuit layout each driver also had to contend with an extended race format on what was the final visit to the spiritual home of karting in the UAE until the championship’s deciding weekend in April, which was designed to test everyone’s equipment, tyre and engine management as well as ultimate race pace.

Saturday opened as usual with timed qualifying for all six classes of Rotax powered karts but at the end of each frantic six minute period the fastest five drivers would then contend for Championship points in a one lap Superpole session that would set the top five positions on the grid for each of the following three heat races.

If Saturday’s schedule kept the teams and mechanics on their toes then Sunday’s action was designed to be a true test of driver endurance with one long pre final per class and then an even longer final, more than double the length of any of the heat races. The result was a set of very hectic heat races and then a series of finals that were not short on drama and showcased a more tactical side of kart racing.

MICRO MAX

Championship leader Liam O’Hanlon was the first driver to discover the potential pitfalls of Superpole as he dropped from first place at the end of traditional qualifying to fourth place at the end of the one lap shootout session behind Samar Chopra, Saif Al Khalifa and Adam Al Shaikh.

Chopra would also go on to take the opening two heat wins with his late pass on O’Hanlon around the outside of the penultimate corner in Heat 2 remaining as one of the best moves of the entire weekend. However, after O’Hanlon rediscovered his winning form in the final Heat of the day on Saturday he would carry that performance into Sunday in fine style.

Chopra and Al Shaikh, who made his return from a broken arm in impressive fashion, led the early stages of Sunday morning’s Pre-Final before O’Hanlon took control in the final moments and in the 14-lap main event nobody could match the pace of the George Gibbons Motorsport number 22 machine.

Leading from lights to flag and winning by more than five seconds as the rest of the top five scrapped furiously behind him, O’Hanlon heads into the holiday season with an increased championship lead over Chopra who finished fourth in the Final behind Al Shaikh and Alexander Freienstein.

RESULTS

Liam Ohanlon – George Gibbons Motorsport
Adam Al Shaikh – Xcel Motorsport
Alexander Freienstein – Motorscape
Samar Chopra – Matthias Njiem Motorsport
Ivans Voronins – Xcel Motorsport

MINI MAX

Often unpredictable but always exciting, the Mini MAX class more than lived up to its billing with a plethora of contenders all making a strong account for themselves over the two days of racing.

Austin Gray struck first in Superpole, much to his delight, which gave his JNKD team a boost after newly crowned Micro MAX Grand Finals Champion Benjamin Karajkovic lost out on a place in Superpole due to a penalty imposed during practice on Friday. Gray would go on to secure his first win of the season in Heat 1 ahead of Charlie Page, Karajkovic and points leader Albi-Jay Stubbs.

Karajkovic returned to the top step of the podium in Heat 2 after an intense inter-team battle with Gray and Round 2 winner Paul Schutzmann but it would be Page who ended Saturday with the biggest smile after his Heat 3 win by just two tenths of a second over Stubbs.

Stubbs’ recurring issues with the race starts returned to haunt him in Sunday morning’s Pre-Final while Atiqa Mir, who started each Heat from the back after a starter motor issue in Qualifying, undid most of her good work with a costly penalty that relegated her from a winning position to eighth on the grid for the final. Page won again to secure Pole Position for the 16-lap main event.

A superb move from the inside of row two to take the lead into the first corner from Karajkovic began a Final that was nip and tuck for the first half as Page shadowed his rival. On lap eight Karajkovic admitted to leaving the door open going into turn one which was all the invitation that Page needed.

Once in front, Page simply disappeared, leaving Karajkovic, Gray and the rest more than three seconds behind. With a fifth place effort, Stubbs retained the championship lead by a slim margin although any one of five drivers, Page included, could easily take the title.

RESULTS

Charlie Page – Xcel Motorsport
Benjamin Karajkovic – JNKD
Austin Gray – JNKD
Atiqa Mir – Akcel GP
Albi Jay Stubbs – Sam Pollitt Racing

JUNIOR MAX

With Conor Clancy’s departure to the Senior ranks, a new winner was guaranteed among a strong Junior MAX entry, which was sadly reduced by one when Ray Haber sustained a fractured shoulder in Friday practice. Haber joined Faris Haroun on the side-lines as the latter recovers from a broken arm although the Emirati Express made up for his absence on track by providing colourful commentary in the broadcast booth for Karting Live TV.

Aaron Mason backed up fastest time in regular Qualifying with Pole Position in Superpole ahead of Jayden Hidding and the two drivers left at the head of the points table in Clancy’s absence – Veer Chopra and Mitansh Jain. Chopra would go on to secure the spoils in Heat 1 although Jain’s fifth place finish behind Angelina Simons, Arhaan Koreishi and Mason would signal the beginning of a torrid weekend for last year’s title runner up.

Iron Dames supported driver Simons would pull off an audacious final corner pass to win Heat 2 from Chopra and Mason as Jain failed to finish and, after a multi-kart pile-up turned the running order on its head in Heat 3 it was Yehansa Senanayake who emerged victorious from Alfie Ward, both drivers avoiding the chaos at turn one from 18^th and 21^st on the grid respectivbely.

Somehow Chopra had done enough to secure Pole Position for the Pre-Final on Sunday morning and with all the action taking place lower down the order he led from start to finish, giving him Pole Position for the 18-lap main event.

When the lights went out Oliver Spencer put on one of his trademark opening lap attacks to snatch top spot although it was clear that the Mumbai Falcons driver didn’t have as much outright pace as many of the chasing pack. Despite some sterling tactics Spencer eventually faded to fourth as both Chopra and Simons and, after a huge battle, Ward managed to pass but by the time Ward grabbed P3, Chopra and Simons were more than 10-seconds clear.

The chequered flag fell to a delighted Chopra, securing his first Final win and the championship lead at the same time as Simons concluded her brief foray into the desert with a well-deserved runner-up spot.

RESULTS

Veer Chopra – Matthias Njiem Motorsports
Angelina Simons – Matthias Njiem Motorsports
Alfie Ward – JNKD
Oliver Spencer – Mumbai Falcons
Gabriele Baricordi – George Gibbons Motorsport

SENIOR MAX

A capacity grid would all be chasing Georges Nassar who, despite his misfortune in the Final, left Al Forsan with an extremely healthy lead in the points. Nassar would increase that lead by winning Superpole and claiming two of the three Heat wins. Jeremy Montgomery-Swan was the other victor although Senior debutant Conor Clancy came very close to outfoxing Nassar in the final race of the day.

Clancy’s improvement on Saturday afternoon would follow over into Sunday for, while Nassar crossed the line first in the Pre-Final ahead of Montgomery-Swan and Nathan Kappen, by the time the 20-lap final rolled around the rest of the field knew that the only way to beat Nassar was to drag him into a scrap from the very first corner.

And what a scrap it was. First Oscar Lambert attacked Nassar and claimed the lead on lap two, backing everyone up until Nassar eventually slipped as low as P8. As Nassar tried to regain his momentum Clancy passed Lambert for the lead and bolted to take his first Senior win on his debut weekend in the class.

Nearly ten seconds after Clancy took the chequered flag Montgomery-Swan completed an impressive weekend in P2, besting Lambert in a hard fought but good natured battle. Several karts further back was Nassar in sixth now fully aware of the style of racing that he will face until his points lead has been completely eroded.

RESULTS

Conor Clancy – Mumbai Falcons
Jeremy Montgomery-Swan – JNKD
Oscar Lambert – Mumbai Falcons
Reaan Dharmadasa – George Gibbons Motorsport
Zain El Hommossany – Matthias Njiem Motorsport

DD2 and DD2 MASTER

The Masters entry may have remained disappointingly low at just three karts but fortunately the main DD2 division continued to grow and produced one of the best races of the entire weekend in Sunday’s gruelling 20-lap final.

Championship leader Tyla Harris arrived in Al Ain with a damaged right hand following an off-track Basketball game injury and while he gamely plugged on it became clear that the longer the weekend went on, the more Harris was struggling.

Harris’ issues were magnified by a stunning Superpole effort from debutant Saad Al Ahbabi and a strong second place effort by the returning Theo Kekati which relegated the championship leader to third on the grid for the heats.

With Kekati also concerned about his race fitness following a 2025 season where his educational commitments in the USA restricted him to a handful of one off-drives Harris tried to take advantage of the situation in the opening Heat but could not quite find a way past the victorious Kekati, crossing the line just a couple of kart lengths behind.

That was the closest anyone came to beating Kekati on Saturday as he ran out a comfortable winner in Heat 2 with Harris focused more on keeping Marc Bassier at bay. Although Harris was able to finish second in the last race, Bassier had already claimed P2 in Heat 2.

Bassier hassled Kekati through the Pre-Final, coming up just one tenth shy of a maiden DD2 race win although he did gain a number of points on Harris who came home a lowly seventh after a crash with Adam Malek.

A riveting 20-lap Final saw the leading seven karts circle as one, positions constantly changing behind an embattled Kekati who, despite the constant pressure, managed to lead all bar three laps to claim a popular win. Half a second behind Kekati came Bassier with Hamza Hashisho rounding out the top three. Harris, in visible discomfort, was eighth while DD2 Masters points leader Maurits Knopjes overcame a DNF in one of the Heats to take the class win in a superb fourth place overall.