UAE RMC ROUND 4 PREVIEW

Following a well-deserved respite for the holiday season the 2025-2026 United Arab Emirates Rotax MAX Challenge begins the new calendar year with its first trip to the Dubai Kartdrome this weekend for a double-header programme that will set in motion a frantic few months of all those drivers wishing to become a champion and take their ticket to the 2026 Rotax Grand Finals in Portimão, Portugal as a member of Team UAE.

Round 4 of the season sees a bumper entry, returning champions and the start of a 13 week stretch that contains the final eight rounds of the season at four different tracks across five separate race weekends and which culminates with the series finale at Al Ain Raceway on April 11th and 12th.

This weekend sees a season-high entry in all six classes as nearly 130 drivers get set to tackle the very technical Dubai Kartdrome with points and awards being handed out at the end of Day 1 (Saturday) and the same format repeated on Day 2 (Sunday).

MICRO MAX

Having won the last three Finals, Liam O’Hanlon leads the youngest members of the Rotax family by 30 points entering the weekend with Samar Chopra his only realistic rival at this stage of the year. However, Round 1 winner Adam Al Shaikh is now fully recovered from his broken arm and will become more of a title contender as the season progresses.

Although Al Shaikh is more than 100 points behind O’Hanlon as things stand, he doesn’t need to worry about dropped scores like the others after his injury kept him out of the recent at Al Forsan event, while Alexander Freienstein is doing a great job overcoming a few early season mishaps to give himself an outside chance as well thanks to a pair of recent podium finishes.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. – Liam O’Hanlon (GGM) – 457 Points

2. – Samar Chopra (MNM) – 427

3. – Adam Al Shaikh (Xcel) – 330

4. – Ammar Tabaza (Xcel) – 320

5. – Alexander Freienstein (Motorscape) – 311

MINI MAX

Nearly 20 Mini max drivers are on the entry list this weekend and there are at least four or five of them who consider themselves a title favourite after the opening round rounds of the season.

Charlie Page was the man to beat last time out at Al Ain Raceway and he should feature strongly again as he climbs the points ladder following his absence from Al Forsan. Albi-Jay Stubbs holds a narrow championship lead over Benjamin Karajkovic and Austin Gray and, with Atiqa Mir moving up to Juniors, the title fight looks like being between Page, Gray, Karajkovic and Stubbs.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. – Albi-Jay Stubbs (SPR) – 393 Points

2. – Benjamin Karajkovic (JNKD) – 385

3. – Austin Gray (JNKD) – 375

4. – Atiqa Mir (Akcel GP) – 371

5. – Charlie Page (Xcel) – 313

JUNIOR MAX

Veer Chopra’s maiden Final victory in Round three has propelled the MNM driver into a comfortable points lead over Mitansh Jain and the rest of the large Junior field which is expected to be nearly 30 strong this weekend.

With the addition of Mini MAX graduate Atiqa Mir and former O-Plate winner Jenson Chalk among others this weekend, Chopra will have plenty of rivals looking to take points off him and maybe give Jain and some of the other regular contenders a chance to close the gap.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. – Veer Chopra (MNM) – 400 Points

2. – Mitansh Jain (Mumbai Falcons) – 354

3. – Jayden Hidding (GGM) – 337

4. – Aaron Mason (GGM) – 317

5. – Conor Clancy (Mumbai Falcons) – 308

SENIOR MAX

Following his dominant performance in the Heats and Pre-Finals at Al Forsan, runaway points leader Georges Nassar discovered how hard it is to be the sole driver with a target on his back in the Final last time out at Al Ain as his rivals tried their best to drag him down the leaderboard.

However, Nassar now has a potential rear-gunner among the 40 plus entry this weekend with the return of Hamza Al Fayez to the championship as a teammate to Nassar in the MNM team.

Nassar will still have his work cut out for him, though, with Oscar Lambert, Jeremy Montgomery-Swan and Al Ain winner Conor Clancy leading the charge to further peg Nassar back.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. – Georges Nassar (MNM) – 424 Points

2. – Oscar Lambert (Mumbai Falcons) – 346

3. – Jeremy Montgomery Swan (JNKD) – 330

4. – Nathan Kappen (Mumbai Falcons) – 326

5. – Reaan Dharmadasa (GGM) – 312

DD2

The largest DD2 grid of the year is highlighted by the return of double champion Max Dexter for the Teleios team. Al Ain winner Theo Kekati is also back as championship leader Tyla Harris hopes to return to full fitness following a disappointing last outing at Al Ain where he was hampered by a hand injury.

Harris still leads the points standings quite comfortably from Adam Malek and Hamza Hashisho and. while Dexter and Kekati may not be full season entries, Harris’ title rivals know that with a bigger grid comes a bigger opportunity to eat in to Harris’ advantage.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1. – Tyla Harris (Mumbai Falcons) – 444 Points

2. – Adam Malek (MNM) – 400

3. – Hamza Hashisho (MNM) – 376

4. – Maurits Knopjes (Mumbai Falcons) – 355

5. – Kyle Blockley (KAA) – 329

DD2 MASTERS

As is the case in the main DD2 class, DD2 Masters also enjoys its biggest entry of the season so far with half a dozen entries set to contend.

The title fight may be a head-to-head battle between Maurits Knopjes and Kyle Blockley but the re-appearance of Tony Hogg will surely add to the excitement.

POINTS

1. – Maurits Knopjes (Mumbai Falcons) – 355 Points

2. – Kyle Blockley (KAA) – 329

3. – Greg Watt (Independent) – 301

4. – Bernardo Del Castillo – 86

5. – Anthony Hogg – 82