UAE RMC Round 1 – Race Report

The UAERMC has a very different feel about it this year. There are some minor differences, such as I have left and am no longer Clerk of the Course, and there some are major differences, like the increasing professional appearance of the paddock on race days. Why, “in the old days” the series looked very different. Six years ago the paddock was awash with around 20 competitors in total, all there with unbranded side pods, it all felt very “clubby.” Of course there was nothing wrong with that, but back then it was as much the UAE national kart series as it is now.

On Friday, when I drove into the paddock halfway through the driver’s briefing, the whole place looked most professional. As well as the Intrepid team awning, there was Formula K, DR, Energy, Birel, Sodi Kart, and TonyKart. There are teams within teams, fancy racesuits, uniforms, team principals, and most likely, commemorative plates aswell. It looked like the paddock of a real national championship, as it should, because it is.

The question is: did it all happen overnight? No, of course not. The sea of colour, the expanding amount of drivers, and the presence of acclaimed chassis manufacturers is testament to years of hard graft and difficult decisions. Ultimately, you’re all here to race, and who can argue against the notion that the series is the best that it has ever been?

I remember when I joined in 2008 we had four cadets, three Junior MAX’s, eight 125 MAX’s, two DD2’s, and three TAG four strokers. On Friday, there were four Bambinos, ten Micro MAX’s, seven Mini MAX’s, ten Junior MAX’s, 21 MAX’s, and most astonishingly, 20 DD2’s. That’s 68 drivers, with more yet to come to couldn’t make the opening round. That’s….I have Windows 8 and can’t find the calculator… but it’s a lot.

Anyway, let’s draw a line under the introduction and spring into action with the first so-called “report.” Over the summer there has been a lot of initiative from HE Dr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem and his team at the ATCUAE to coax more Emirati drivers into grassroots motorsport i.e. karting. The Emiratis do make up a very small percentage of the series, and to find them you need look no further than the Bambino class. 

Saqir Al Qassemi, aged seven, is certainly looking like the early pace-setter in the category; but his margin of pace is not un-challenged. Kris Knopjes has, like Saqir, been training hard over the summer. Saqir was fastest in both time trials, setting a 1:30.248 in TT1, and a 1:31.519 in TT2. Kris was 0.9s slower in TT1, setting a best time of 1:31.172, but only 0.3s down in TT2, when he set a best time of 1:31.853. At least in the early part of the season we will expect to see the top spot occupied by these two drivers.

Saqir and Kris are joined by two new drivers this year, who when they find their feet will doubtlessly be snapping at their heels. Harry Hannam was third overall in his first ever outing, setting a best lap time of 1:33.229 in TT1 and a 1:32.343.  His exit from TT2 was premature as he was sidelined with a mechanical defect. But he’s not far off the pace, is he? It was also the racing debut for Emirati driver Rashid Al Dhaheri. Rashid is the youngest driver in the entire series, having only turned five recently. His best time was a highly respectable 1:38.668, not bad for a first timer! 

Right, let’s move onto the Rotax classes, and where better to start than the Micro MAX category. Last year, the Micro’s ran at the back of the Mini’s, primarily because there were only four of them. This year there are ten, and thus they get their very own race. Last year’s champion, Sem Knopjes, may have met his match in the shape of Oman’s Shehab Al Habsi. For the best part of the day there was little between the two drivers.  In the final itself, Sem led from the start but on lap two found himself demoted when Shehab made a bold move. Sem, who obviously has been watching his Dad, refused to give up and tried to come back at the charging Omani. The drawback was that neither put a wheel wrong. After trading fastest laps for the guts of the race, Sem made late progress by getting the gap down from just under a second to 0.3s, but it wasn’t quite enough. Shehab took a popular win to the delight of his team. Sem, meanwhile, seemed contented after the race, as he knows that this year could very well be the making of him as a driver.

But it wasn’t just the front two that were racing hard; behind, the battle for third was raging. Theo Kekati, Ziggy Kermanshahchi, and Jamie Day swapped between three in a line to three abreast constantly. Theo with the advantage, he held his nerve all the way to a tense finish-line, with Ziggy practically alongside and Jamie a couple kart lengths back.

Ziyad Houston was a further 20 seconds back down road and crossed the line a respectable sixth ahead Micro MAX newbie and reigning Bambino champion; Georgie Zouein. Ethan Walsh and Hamish Foster, both also having moved up from Bambino, were eighth and ninth respectably, although Hamish broke down 2 laps from home. Thomas Voss did not take the start.

Mini MAX now; and things look like they are certainly going to be close in the midfield this season. Two-time Mini MAX champion Tehmur Chohan absolutely romped all sessions, and the final was no different. From pole position he set fastest lap after fastest lap and cruised to a seemingly routine victory. Sadly his exuberance was to be short lived, and through no fault of his own was disqualified after post-race scrutineering. The irregularity was an innocent mistake, and Tehmur’s father made a heartfelt public apology after the race. A commendable act and one that Tehmur will move on from in Dubai in a fortnights time. 

The expulsion of Tehmur meant that Yahya Houston was awarded the victory, and with that a full complement of points. During the race, Yahya had been Tehmur’s closest challenger, but he himself was under threat. Yusuf Moola, moving up from the Micro MAX class, was hot on his tail all race long and would take second. Yahya looked unfazed as he navigated his kart around the circuit with Yusuf in tow. At the finish it was only a 0.9s gap that parted them.

The midfield scrap was a right old laugh, with debutant Daniel Booth racing for fourth at the head of a train comprising Alyzee Pelegry (who has found buckets of speed), and fellow rookies Liam Crystal and Eliot Jones. The four karts occasionally traded places without, may I add, knocking each other off. Phew. It was genuinely a great little race to watch, and Daniel was thrilled to find out that he was classified third, and thusly received his first pot. 

Now we come to Junior MAX, and sadly things didn’t start all too well. Three laps in to the Final, a chain of events led to Alain Bauwmans connecting with a rogue kart and ploughing through the barriers at the far end of the circuit. The race was stopped and Alain was tended to by the medical team. Thankfully it wasn’t anything too serious, but he will be plastered up for a few days…and between you and me, I think he likes all the attention!

Resultantly, the race was run in two parts, and it was the reigning champion, Pasqual Pook, who once again tore the track up. Pasqual led from pole position and quickly Vetteled it by building a small safety margin. But there was no time to sit back and relax as his chief rival, Taymour Kermanshahchi, was hot on his heels. Pasqual drove flawlessly to a great win, but Taymour was what Pasqual might say was “too close for comfort.” The distance between them at the chequered flag was only 3-4 kart lengths. Looks like it is going to be a good season there…

Third position was won by Guilio Peroni, he was eight seconds behind the triumphant Pasqual, and has a little bit of work to do if he plans of closing the gap. Fraser Rose led home a fiery Ivan Berets for fourth place. Khalid Al Wahaibi was sixth ahead on Antoine Pelegry. Waheeb Al Kharusi was disqualified for some reason or another, and Kerr Arnold did not take the start. 

The 125 MAX Final was, as ever, a frothing maelstrom of flotsam and overtaking that is impossible to recant in great detail. There was, however, the traditional first corner collision. C’est la vie. At the front meanwhile, the performances of the returning Patrick Hannah had the paddock in a tiz. The former Junior MAX race-winner had frankly dominated the day’s proceedings, and in the final he looked a shoe-in for a momentous victory.

At the outset, he saw off a challenge from Abdullah Al Rawahi and old muscle man himself, Ameer Hassan. For a long while it seemed as if these three would occupy the podium positions and all would be well. But, the script was thrown out the window… Emanuele Pagani had been lurking in the shadows for most of the day, and during the pre-final had come up from the back to finish somewhere in the middle. In the final he made a modest start, and at mid-distance started to pick his way through the field. After some close racing with Abdullah and Muscles, he set about chasing Patrick.

Patrick looked to have everything under control and made no notable mistakes. Emanuele however made a bold move on the penultimate lap to seize the lead. Patrick could do little about it as the Italian powered home to take his maiden UAERMC win. Patrick fought back but crossed the line 0.4s back. Muscles was third ahead of Abdullah and Alexandre Silanine.

Elsewhere, there were notable drives from Stephanie Le Vesconte and Moeen Al Sarraj. Stephanie had earlier displayed a gutsy drive by leading a train of, well, pretty much the entire field, and in the final she was forced to do it again. Moeen tried in vain to get by but Stephanie had all her bases covered to take a sixth place finish.

Duncan Foster yet again proved to be the quickest Master. He came home in seventh place ahead of Sebastian Seeling, whose superb improvements in Junior MAX last year continued into a very difficult 125 MAX grid. Kart Master TwoSevenOne, aka, Walid Al Qassemi, was tenth, although his lap times suggest that he was slightly out of position. It was a busy race as ever, and I apologise for not being able to elaborate on the details any further. I don’t think there were any good crashes to make mention of… 

Finally we come to the DD2’s, and if one class has come the furthest, then it’s this one. When I first joined in 2008, we used to have 2-3 of them running at the front of Juniors. On Friday there were 20. 20! That’s 40 gears! Amazing. The talk of the paddock was the return of the old karting legend; Maurits Knopjes. Maurtis had taken some time out so that he could focus on Sem and Kris’s racing careers, but he couldn’t stay away for long. Thankfully, his come-back is already a thousand times more successful than Michael Schumacher’s, as he beat both Sanad Al Rawahi and reigning champion, Oli George, to a great win.

There is, however, more than meets the eye. Piers Pakenham-Walsh is now a DD2-ist and in qualifying and the Heat was by far the quickest driver. Sadly, while leading the Heat, his motor went pop and was unable to take any further part. Maurits, thusly, controlled the remainder of the day.

In the final, all eyes were on the charge of Oli. In an unofficial post-race interview, Oli said that he was broken and held together by nothing more than masking tape and Lemsip. So with that in mind his charge through the pack was even more noteworthy. He tried to get by a defending Sanad for lap after lap, and eventually found a way by at turn 1. By this stage it was perhaps too late to do anything about Maurits, but a second place isn’t a bad way to start ones title defence. Sanad was third.

Arnaud Bouf has lost none of his pace and once again matched the speed of the top three. Expect Arnaud to be a frequent visitor to the podium this year. Patrick Jarjour and his pet beard were both fifth after a spirited drive. Patrick seems to have closed the gap to the front-runners. Jonathan Mowatt and Paul Morris shared a compelling race for sixth. Both men traded places frequently and, most importantly, didn’t fire each other off. Not surprising for perhaps two of the nicest blokes in the paddock. For a while it looked as if Paul had the upper hand, but Jonathan seemed to have more energy in the final stages, and subsequently won the battle. Edward Stanley closed in on Paul at the death but crossed the line a hansom eighth. Hussain Umid Ali was ninth ahead of Tony Hogg and MadFuller. Abdulrazak Al Anjari was twelfth ahead of Ahmad Al Ghanim, and the other seven either didn’t start or finish(!).

As far as the championship tables are concerned things are looking quite simple. Round 1 is done and it is a case of “as you were.” Come rounds two and three we will be better placed to analyse the table and try and decipher who will be this years’ hot picks.

There is little need to ramble on any further. As I no longer work for Al Ain Raceway I will start by thanking them for the chicken mayonnaise sandwich and diet coke. And tell whoever is now in charge of the network to sort the Wi-Fi out in race control…or was I supposed to do that before I left? Anyway, on behalf of AAR I would like to thank each and every driver, mechanic, parent/sponsor, official, and team member for attending Friday’s curtain raiser. The look of the paddock and the professionalism of the series has come a long, long way.

The ATC UAE seem very pleased with everything.

See you all in Dubai!

Fullard, Martin A. 

Assistant Clerk of the Course, Chris York, springing into action