UAE RMC Round 3 Preview

10 Dec, 2025

Just seven days on from the most successful Rotax Grand Finals in ‘Team UAE’s’ history the 2025-2026 UAE Rotax MAX Challenge Championship returns to its spiritual home at Al Ain Raceway in Abu Dhabi for the third round of the current season and the final event of the 2025 calendar year.

Newly crowned Grand Finals Champions Benjamin Karajkovic and Maurits Knopjes along with their teammates from last week’s spectacular Grand Finals at Bahrain International Kart Circuit head up another strong entry list that is once again expected to be well above 100 drivers across the six competing classes.

Every driver will be faced with a different track layout to the one used for the opening double-header weekend held in October, a different format including three heat races on Saturday as well as the brand new Superpole Qualifying session for the top five drivers in each class after the usual timed Qualifying.

Superpole will award championship points to the ‘fast five’ in each class. Starting with the fifth fastest driver from the main session, each driver will be released onto the circuit on their own and will have one single flying lap to secure their starting position for all three heat races in what promises to be a dramatic part of the weekend, all of which will be broadcast live by Karting Live TV with commentators Joe Bradley and Henry Beaudette.

This weekend will also be the series’ last visit to Al Ain until the championship finale double header next April with the next six events spread across four race weekends taking place at the Dubai Kartdrome, Yas Marina and Al Forsan, which hosted the most recent round of the championship in November.

MICRO MAX

Liam O’Hanlon’s confidence and speed continues to grow with each victory and after sealing the win at Al Forsan he will arrive at Al Ain holding a 24 point lead over Samar Chopra in the standings.

Of course O’Hanlon won’t have it all his own way with more than 20 other drivers on the grid and while Chopra might be his nearest rival in points, Alex Freienstein was O’Hanlon’s biggest rival in the final at Al Forsan and with a career best P2 finish to his name, Freienstein will be hoping to go one place better this time around.

O’Hanlon and Chopra may have a clear advantage in the points table over the remainder of the grid bit it is very early days yet and with a number of drivers improving their pace every time they hit the track, Micro MAX is unlikely to stay a two horse race for long.

STANDINGS

Liam O’Hanlon – 302
Samar Chopra – 278
Ammar Tabaza – 216
Tadeas Prochazka – 212
Rudrapatap Shekhawat – 211

MINI MAX

As the newly crowned Rotax Grand Finals Micro MAX Champion, Benjamin Karajkovic will be riding a huge wave of confidence this weekend with his disappointing result from the final at Al Forsan all but forgotten.

In what is shaping up to be a wide open title fight, Karajkovic is currently ranked P3 in points, 13 markers behind championship leader Albi-Jay Stubbs and 10 points behind Atiqa Mir. None of the top three in points finished on the podium at Al Forsan as Paul Schutzmann, Austin Gray and Oliver Butchard annexed the rostrum positions.

Gray is quickly becoming the class’s Mr Consistent while both Schutzmann and Butchard began the long recovery process after their exclusions from the opening round which has left them with a large point’s deficit to overcome.

STANDINGS

Albi-Jay Stubbs – 258
Atiqa Mir – 255
Benjamin Karajkovic – 245
Austin Gray – 230
Rehan Khan Rasheed – 218

JUNIOR ROTAX

Oliver Spencer crossed the finishing line first in his last ever Mini MAX race in Bahrain only for a post penalty to drop him down the order and with his full attention now on the Junior class he will be keen to erase those painful memories and launch a concerted attack on the title contenders.

Conor Clancy made it three wins from three at Al Forsan but a move to Seniors now beckons which leaves the title fight wide open.

As they were in round one, Mitansh Jain and Veer Chopra were Clancy’s biggest threats and they completed the Al Forsan podium and can be expected to begin their championship fight in earnest this weekend although Spencer and the likes of Jayden Hidding will be looking to make it a four way scrap with a strong showing this weekend.

STANDINGS

Conor Clancy – 308
Mitansh Jain – 273
Veer Chopra – 245
Jayden Hidding – 228
Aaron Mason – 196

SENIOR ROTAX

Another capacity grid will be on hand in the always exciting, occasionally rambunctious but rarely dull Senior class which was won by the returning Max Dexter at Al Forsan in what may have been a one off appearance as he prepared for the Grand Finals.

Al Forsan runner-up Eloi Gonzalez also took valuable points off the series regulars as the Spaniard made an appearance in preparation for the Champions of The Future Academy race held shortly after the RMC event, with Oscar Lambert the only major title contender finishing on the podium in P3.

A large number of contenders failed to see the chequered flag in the final including Nathan Kappen, Andrea Remy, Kai Hunter, Laith Mouminah and Georges Nassar. However Nassar’s victorious performances in the heat race and pre final keep him top of the standings by more than 50 points.

But we have already seen this season that fortunes can change in an instant in Senior Rotax and with such a large field of competitive drivers Nassar’s lead could be eclipsed within two races if his Al Forsan final misfortune returns.

STANDINGS

Georges Nassar – 273
Oscar Lambert – 219
Nathan Kappen – 216
Reaan Dharmadasa – 208
Jeremy Montgomery-Swan – 204

DD2

Tyla Harris continues to be unbeaten in finals after making it three wins from three at Al Forsan but his perfect record in the heats and pre-finals came to a screeching halt thanks to DD2 debutant Marc Bassier and a much improved Adam Malek who shared the honours in the heat and pre final before Harris passed them both in the main event.

The DD2 grid continues to recover after losing many of its established drivers at the end of the 2024-2025 season with the returning Theo Kekati set to shake things up even further when he makes his debut in the class.

Tyla Harris – 312
Adam Malek – 285
Hamza Hashisho – 249
Maurits Knopjes – 240
Kyle Blockley – 221

DD2 MASTERS

Reigning Champion Tony Hogg may have called time on his international career after Bahrain although his victory over Kyle Blockley at Al Forsan coupled with Maurits Knopjes retirement from the final may persuade Hogg to continue racing at the domestic level and if he does return to Al Ain he will surely be a threat for the win.

Championship leader Knopjes, who successfully defended his E20 Masters title in Bahrain to give UAE’s Black and Gold Falcons their third Grand Finals win, will be keen to stamp his authority regardless of who else is on the grid as he eyes a 12^th ticket to the Grand Finals. As one of the few drivers to win a Grand Final for two different nations the Dutch-born, UAE-based pilot now holds a 19 point lead in the standings over Kyle Blockley.

STANDINGS