AARKC 2011-12 ROUND 8

There are days when you wake up and know immediately whether you’ll be revelling or despairing in the pub later that night. In the paddock of Al Ain Raceway there was an aura of excitement coursing through the veins and fuel lines of all present. A light, dusty haze blanketed the view of Jebel Hafeet and the Hajjar Mountains blended majestically into the horizon. The sun’s rays gingerly poked through and reflected oh so elegantly from the assorted paintwork. As the 2011/12 season draws closer to its climax the…enough of this. Right, here’s the action…

MINI MAX – TRANSFORMERS

Contrary to what the headline may seem to imply, the children of the paddock did not become Lorries or police cars, they simply transformed from Cadet Drivers to Mini MAX drivers. Understandably there were some quarters who thought that this was not a good idea, and that calamity would ensue. The truth of the matter couldn’t have been more inaccurate, the 6 converts drove stupendously all day and never have the drives been so close. All 6 lads’ best lap times were within 9 tenths of each other; knock that down if you dare. We began the final with 2 false starts, with pole man Alain Bauwmans having to start from the back as he failed to leave the grid. Tehmur Chohan on anti-pole became the pace setter and at the off held the lead into turn 1. Taymour Kermanshahchi closed in behind him and Alain made a lightening start to get into third ahead of Zachary Robertson. Tehmur drove fantastically to defend his lead until Taymour found a way through by post 6. Alain too found a way by a lap later and almost immediately dived by Taymour to briefly lead on lap 5. Taymour retook his position at the front straight away. Zachary meanwhile managed to get by both Tehmur and Alain on the same lap and lined up behind Taymour for an assault. He led briefly on lap 8 but starting lap 9 Taymour pulled alongside on the run to turn 1. Zachary tried to hang it around the outside but couldn’t hold on and ran along the concrete demoting him to fourth. Tehmur then ran close to Taymour as Zachary just managed to pick by Alain for third. It was an intense final lap which culminated in Taymour crossing the line to take the first ever AARKC Mini MAX class win by 0.001 seconds ahead of Tehmur with Zachary a further 6 tenths back with Alain trailing a further 0.2 seconds. Have you ever known the former cadets to be that close? Ivan Berets did well to handle the new machine and finished 5th but Finn Healy spun on lap 1 and took no further part (however Finn drove fantastically all day and was unlucky to retire from the final). A championship is begun…

JUNIOR MAX – ABDULLAH THE UNTOUCHABLE

Junior MAX was hotly contested between the usual protagonists. At the start Abdullah Al Rawahi converted his pole into a lead and set about setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Looking completely at peace with the kart he blitzed the field to win comfortably. However, there was a superb race going on behind him. Ameer Hassan ran alone in second in the early stages but before too long a hard charging Pasqual Pook had caught up with him. Pasqual started in the lower half of the grid and made short work of Cyrus Engineer and Guilio Peroni. By lap 5 Pasqual was riding Ameers tail. The pair ran close for several laps allowing both Cyrus and Patrick Hannah to close right up. Ameer could only defend so much and on lap 9 was deposed by Pasqual. Cyrus then mounted an attack but Ameer held his line and the three karts crossed the finish line 0.25 seconds apart with Patrick a further 8 tenths back. Guilio Peroni was having his best day yet and was in a buoyant mood after a hard earned third place in the pre-final. At the start the experience of the others was a touch too much for him but a strong drive to sixth was still impressive. Cedric Dreyer’s day was one of mixed fortunes and he was classified 7th after running closely behind Guilio. Sebastian Seeling continues to gain experience and finished 8th. The result means that Abdullah has stretched out his title race lead by a further 27 points from Cyrus. It’s looking good for the young Omani but there are still 4 races left…

SENIOR MAX – SANAD WENT MISSING, BUT WAS FOUND AT THE FRONT

Sanad Al Rawahi dominated Round 8. From start to finish he drove flawlessly to take his seventh win of the season. As I sit here and type I confess to be struggling to elaborate on his performance. He drove a kart…very fast…and won. By 17 seconds. You could argue that he was helped by the other drivers engaging in a titanic battle. From second place down we were treated to a traditional kart race that involved a snake of karts biding their time behind each other. So let me think about how best to describe it… right. On the first lap there were a lot of karts. AARKC debutant Philippe Valenza – who had started 2nd – caused a collision with Nikita Miliakov at post 5. This put Alexandre Silanine in second. Nikita and Philippe set about their respective come back drives as Niki Dedic led an attack on second place Alexandre. Niki and Alexandre were pushing each other hard and things were getting aggressive, banging wheels down the main straight and all that noise. Behind was Alex Coward who without question was having his best ever day. On the pace since the morning he ran ahead of Ali Al Najjar vying for a potential podium. But Nikita Miliakov was on a charge. After being thumped down to 9th on lap 1, he was 7th by lap 2, 6th by lap 3. 5th a lap later and by lap seven was up in 4th behind Niki. A bold move on lap 10 saw Nikita get back into third and ran closely behind Alexandre who had spent the entire race distance on the defensive. But behind him Philippe was about to complete his mammoth come back. After putting himself back down in 10th he worked back up through the field and deposed Nikita of third on lap 13. He desperately tried to find a way by Alexandre and came close when he plotted a switchback at turn 1 on the last lap. Alexandre had himself covered in the centre as Philippe went right on the grippy side and Nikita aimed for the dusty left. The move was never going to work and on the dust he slithered into a spin narrowly avoiding contact with Alexandre. Alexandre held on for second with Philippe 0.002 seconds alongside in third. Niki was promoted to fourth on account of Nikita’s misfortune. Further down the order, Alex crossed the line 5th ahead of Ali, a slim 0.25 seconds between them. Chris Coles and all four of his wheels were classified in seventh ahead of Youssef Elgandour in 8th. Nikita was 9th as a result of his spin and poor Raffaele retired at the end of lap 1 and was classified 10th. It was a quality race. Sanad was later found on the top step of the podium. He now leads on 793 points from Nikita who sits on 611 points.

MAX MASTER – MOWATT WINS THROUGH THE MADNESS

Now that the Masters have been separated a true picture of their competition has come to light. This is a fantastic class and the drivers are nothing short of true gentlemen. Even when accidents happen – and they do – these guys show the rest how to conduct their behaviour. At the start the melee of karts hurtled into turn 1 with Andrew Fuller immediately claiming the lead. A four kart train developed straight away as Andrew was followed by Luc Bauwmans, Walid Al Qassemi and new kid on the block Duncan Foster. The quartet ran line astern all the way to lap 10 until disaster struck. From the angle of the writer Luc lined himself up on the run into the first corner but made contact with Andrew. Walid and Duncan had nowhere to go and all four karts went piling off into the run off area. Remarkably Andrew got going again and was able to maintain his lead. The other three took a little longer to get going again and this allowed Jonathan Mowatt through into second place. Kevin Day and Ronald Zouein both benefitted and moved into third and fourth respectively. Later on the lap – presumably on dusty tyres – Luc ran into Walid at post 5 and both men went off once more. The damage to Walids kart was terminal and he limped around for 2 more laps before retiring. Andrew began to slow at the front with what appeared to be a mechanical issue and thus Jonathan passed him for the lead. Andrew was able to continue and just managed to hold off Kevin. Duncan tried to claw back some ground but was unable to pass Ronald. Through the skirmish though it was Jonathan who basked in the glory as he crossed the line to take his first ever win by 7 seconds over Andrew. Kevin crossed the line third but sadly was found to be underweight and was subsequently disqualified promoting Ronald to third place. It was an insane race and testament to the never-say-die character of the field. Andrew still leads the class with 697 points from Luc on 639 and Walid on 594.

DD2 – PRANGSTER MAURITS EDGES CLOSER TO ANOTHER TITLE

The DD2 class was once again well subscribed. From the beginning Maurits Knopjes and Mohammed Al Dhaheri pulled away to begin their private battle. Sadly we were all deprived of an epic race on lap 1 when Mohammed Al Dhaheri suffered a rear hub failure that sent him packing to the gravel trap. Instantly promoting Arnaud Bouf to second the wily Frenchman could do nothing but watch Maurits’ rear bumper from 4 seconds away. A good race was taking shape behind him with Patrick Jarjour and Hasher Al Maktoum fighting over third position. Oliver George was running in 5th and as the two men ahead of him continued to squabble Oliver reeled them in. He didn’t hang around too long and by lap 7 had managed to get by and up into third place. By this time there weren’t enough laps left to catch Arnaud but Oliver was the fastest man on the track. Patrick eventually won the private battle he was having as not for the first time that day Hashers kart failed once more. He eventually dropped behind Hussain Umid Ali and nursed his broken kart home to sixth place. Maurits crossed the line a cool 4.5 seconds clear of Arnaud to take another win that gives him a total of 741 points to Mohammed’s 578. It will take something to go wrong in a big way if he loses it now…

HONDA CHALLENGE – WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN?

The Honda Challenge was packed with 23 drivers. It was a close run race from the front positions, through the large midfield pack and down to the tail-enders. Hussain Umid Ali won again after holding off a heavy threat from both Nathan Stevens – who would finish second – and Sam Zian. Atef Al Barwani was a further 1.5 seconds back in fourth place. Saeed Al Maari was fifth and was followed home by a long train of karts including Carlos Do Vale and Anas Al Halabi. The result means that Hussain extends his lead from Sam in the title race by a further 19 points, Atef sits third. Nathan Stevens was beaming afterwards after having set a new lap record.

Another communiqué hath cometh to an end. The usual round of thanks is extended to the officials who volunteer their time to ensure safety and governance. But of course a sincere thanks to the drivers, parents, mechanics and fans who all conducted themselves in superb fashion. It just goes to show that if you jump up and down and start shouting and throwing your weight around you’ll make no friends, and if you approach matters in a calm and calculated manner the sport is better for it. After all, each and every one of us wants the same thing, a fair and reputable karting series. See you all at Dubai in a fortnight; hopefully.

This report was brought to you by Marty Fullard and the letter C.