AARKC 2011-12 ROUND 9

MINI MAX – TEHMUR A WINNER AT LAST!

Tehmur Chohan underlined his strong season by scoring his maiden win. He made a superb start and led the Minis into the first bend. At the outset he had to contend with Alain Bauwmans who was  also hungry for victory.  Tehmur  kept himself composed and held off the charge to win by a slim margin of 2 seconds from Alain.  Ivan Berets drove alone to third place in what was another strong performance from the young Russian.  He ended up 10 seconds adrift of the leader, ahead of 4th placed Finn Healy.

JUNIOR MAX – ABDULLAH LOOKING GOOD

As has become the norm, the Junior class was exceptionally close. After taking 2 Heat wins earlier in the day Ameer Hassan started the Final from Pole Position from Cyrus Engineer and Abdullah Al Rawahi.  Ameer led from the start and kept himself cool whilst under pressure from Abdullah who sneaked past Cyrus on the approach to the first corner.  Near the halfway point Abdullah found a small gap and made a difficult move stick to take the lead.  Ameer then found himself defending from a hard-charging Cyrus.  He dug deep and found some more pace that enabled him to stick with Abdullah and the pair crossed the line first and second parted by a little under 1 second.  Cyrus’ challenge faded slightly in the dying laps and he crossed the line in third, some 4 seconds further back.

SENIOR MAX – SANAD MAKES IT LOOK EASY

Once again Sanad Al Rawahi dominated the day, scoring four wins out of four.  In the Final he raced virtually unchallenged from the start lights to the chequered flag, setting a fastest lap time that was over half a second quicker than anyone else.  Ammar Rayess was in a buoyant mood after he recorded his best ever finish with a strong and well-deserved second place.  Albeit 10 seconds behind Sanad at the end, Ammar kept himself consistent and focused and was naturally overjoyed by the result.  Nikita Miliakov once again came home to finish on the podium with another solid drive.  One wonders how much closer the racing may have been had we not lost 3 star drivers in a first corner pile up.  Piers Pakenham-Walsh, Alexander Silanine and Philippe Valenza had been quick all day and it was a shame that we couldn’t see them all in a straight fight.

MAX MASTER – WALID TURNS HIS LUCK AROUND

Walid Al Qassemi had endured a dreadful day.  After losing a chain and bending his brand new chassis in the earlier Heat races he qualified near theback of the grid for the Final.  Capitalising on a great start, he steadily made his way through the field and by mid-distance he had managed to move into the lead past the  impressive Duncan Foster who, on his Dubai Kartdrome debut, had triumphed in 2 of the 3 Heats.  Duncan pressured the ‘Karting Wise Man’ heavily right up to the flag but could not quite find a breakthrough, Walid holding on to win by a mere 0.32 seconds!  Jonathan Mowatt continued his excellent run of form, and after scoring his maiden win last time out found himself on the podium once more, this time in third place.  Championship leader Andrew Fuller came home in fourth.

DD2 – SO CLOSE FOR OLIVER

The DD2 class continue to impress with their competitiveness.  Oliver George has been threatening to win for a long while now and is known to be exceptionally quick around the Kartdrome.  After winning 2 Heats and qualifying on Pole Position for the Final he led away from the start with Maurits Knopjes right on his tail.  In the opening laps these two would stretch away from Mohammed Al Dhaheri who was being pressured hard by Arnaud Bouf.  Oliver defended cleverly whilst wily old Maurits settled behind him, watchfully.  Following the pattern in the Heat races, Mohammed really found some pace after the halfway point and began reeling in the lead pair as Arnaud struggled to keep pace.  On the penultimate lap Maurits made a bold and unorthodox move on the exit of the bridge as a small gap presented itself and pinched the lead fairly.  Visibly frustrated and possibly unaware of Mohammed’s proximity, Oliver went slightly off line a few corners later and conceded 2nd place as Mohammed seized the opportunity to slip by and have a crack at the flying Dutchman.  With the fight for second place [behind Maurits] in the Championship on a knife-edge, you sense that Mohammed was not going to try anything too risky on the last lap but he maintained the pressure and Maurits had to defend in his usual resolute manner to seal victory by 0.3s as Oliver followed them across the line in a creditable but disappointed third.

So with the championship table showing a clear picture, the UAE national kart drivers head to Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi for the 10^th round of the season.  The race takes place on Friday 30^th March.

                                                      [Above: the day’s trophy winners in various states of rapture]