UAE Rotax MAX Challenge round 9 monologue

The typical human mind is like a rechargeable battery; it runs its course until it runs out altogether. It must then be recharged in order to function properly once more. As it turns out, kart drivers operate in a very similar way. There is a big, blue, fat rule book that details everything you need to know, from sporting to technical, yet still many people’s copies are still untouched. If they’re still in their original packaging, just think what they will be worth in 50 years time.

There are some circumstances that cannot be covered by the rule book, and in such instances common sense must be applied. Take overtaking as a perfect example. In the rule book there is no set way of overtaking, you can do it on either the left or the right. But when executing your manoeuvre you need to think whether it is worth it or not. There are some who think that they have a divine given right to go for any gap they see and that to not take advantage of the opportunity would be against their racing principles. I wonder what they must think then they are sitting by the side of the track with a missing wheel, a bent chassis, and a furious fellow competitor?

You cannot just go barraging in thinking that the driver you’re overtaking owes you a favour by getting out of the way. That is naive. Do it properly or don’t do it at all. After making this point in the briefing last Friday, I saw to it that I addressed each and every race on the pre-grid in an effort to curb the chronic case of short term memory loss that so often causes headaches. What a difference it made. The heats and pre-finals passed without drama and even in the finals things were fine. There will always be incidents at the start in the bigger grids, that is inevitable, but on the whole the driving standards were improved tenfold.

With only four rounds to go, two at Yas Marina and two at Al Ain Raceway, things are inevitably going to get heated, especially in the 125 MAX category. Do not think for one second that the officials don’t know what is going through some peoples minds; everyone will be expected to race cleanly. To make things even better, why don’t you volunteer your services to help officiate the series for the last four races? Maybe seeing things from the other side of the fence will give you a better understanding about a) how it actually works and b) how difficult it can be sometimes. But only if you’re kart is broken, or you don’t have one. Contact me for volunteering services: marty@alainraceway.com

Now to the UAE Rotax MAX Challenge itself. The Mini MAX drivers were as good as gold and that made their final a breeze to govern. Tehmur Chohan – whose name is permanently etched at the top of the results – once again took it to another level. Tehmur dominated every on-track session and scored his sixth perfect result (winning both pre-final and final) of the season. From the off he looked like he was going to be un-troubled, and true to form he stole the show. Alain Bauwmans, who is only 50 points behind in the championship table, followed Tehmur home in second place 8.5 seconds back.

There was a shock to the form card in that Ivan Berets retired after three laps when his chain made a leap for freedom. The retirement put him out of the race and, sadly, all but out of the championship race. Yahya Houston suffered no such misfortune as he was promoted to third place and held station to the end. Towards the end he looked as if he was reeling Alain in but there weren’t enough laps to do much about it. Still, his trophy collection is coming along nicely.

Amir Dargahi, who has recently moved up from the Micro MAX class was fourth ahead of Sachio Kekati and Tara Eichenberger. Tara caught up with Sachio after recovering from a slow start but couldn’t find a way through. Khaled Al Wahaibi was seventh and Alyzee Pelegry was classified eighth despite retiring near the end. It was, by usual standards, a bit of a procession. But hey, if that means no one is crashing into each other then that is fine by me, and I’m sure, mum and dad too. 

Sem Knopjes is now leading the Micro MAX class by 191 points with four rounds to go. It is going to take a cataclysmic chain of events to knock him off the top step. It is worth noting that despite his win tally of eight from nine, Yusuf Moola is still able to stay with him on the race track. At the start of the race, Sem battled to keep Yusuf behind and at times had to take a defensive line. After a few laps however, things started to settle down and Sem was able to pull out a small lead. He went on to win but Yusuf was only three seconds behind.

Ziggy Kermanshahchi overcame earlier mechanical gremlins to take a hard earned third place. He continues to gather experience ready for his first full season next year. Theo Kekati and Ziyad Houston put on a display for the watching masses as they raced nose to tail. Ziyad lined himself a few times but just couldn’t quite make a move stick so Theo took fourth.

Pasqual Pook’s fortunes have certainly been mixed over the course of the season, but on Friday he finally seemed to have everything under his control. Until the final… Pasqual started from pole position and stormed away into the lead early on with Taymour Kermanshahchi and Guilio Peroni in close pursuit. Then, one lap Taymour appeared from the tunnel in first place, with Guilio second. But what of Pasqual? According to the drivers in a post race debriefing, it was agreed that a racing incident had resulted in Pasqual spinning out and losing his lead. No matter, all was well.

Taymour, then, lap after lap wrung the races neck and powered to an overwhelmingly popular victory two seconds clear of Guilio. The young Italian had had a fine day in his own right and in the dying stages had appeared to close the gap to the leader. But second place was to be his reward. Pasqual finished third after a strong recovery drive and still leads the championship by an amount of points that can be found elsewhere on this website.

Sebastian Seeling and Stephanie Le Vesconte, not for the first time this season, were engaged in a thrilling duel that endured from lights to flag. Initially the pair were chopping and changing positions but it was Sebastian who came off better this time to score a well deserved fourth place. Stephanie dropped back in the final quarter to finish fifth. Faisal Al Zubai and Antoine Pelegry were sixth and seventh.

Pasqual still leads the Junior MAX series on 837 points from Guilio Peroni on 770. Sebastian Seeling is third on 658. Taymour Kermanshahchi is down the order because he could not score points until January. 

A grid of 23 karts is a good grid, yet it is surprising that 23 is the smallest the 125 MAX field has been this year. No matter, racing, as ever, was intense. The MAX class was replete with drama from start to finish. That is not me dressing it up with un-necessary hyperbole, it was mental. To set the scene, Ameer Hassan was forced to start at the back after his rear wheel made a daring bid for freedom in the pre final, so that was one out. Well, you all know the result; Philippe Valzenza won it, and his race was fairly uneventful by comparison. Abdullah Al Rawahi was shown the mechanical failure flag after a handful of laps when his chain guard became partially detached. He came into the pit lane and was then released after it had been reconnected, but he was way down the order. This left Piers Pakenham-Walsh, Alexandre Silanine and Rami Azzam to fight it out for second.

What a race; Piers drove his wheels off as Alex and Rami desperately tried to find a way by. For Alex, it was a golden opportunity to claw back some ground in the championship fight as two other points contenders were out of the running. For Rami, it was a chance to remind the Rotax world that he hasn’t disappeared, despite not racing in an RMC for three years. The trio of karts raced nose to tail, with Piers’ heading home Rami and Alex. But, and there was a big but, Pier’s transponder had fallen off in the early stages of the race. In such circumstances the driver is eliminated from the results, and that is, unfortunately, what happened. Pier’s though was rewarded for his efforts when the DAMC organising body awarded him with a coveted Formula Gulf 1000 test drive, so there was a silver lining in the end. Let no one detract though from the days winner; Philippe. He has matured tremendously this year and now the leads the series.

Elsewhere on track, Ameer Hassan had fought his way up to fifth place, which was to become fourth and Tarek Sukhtian headed home Raffaele De Lorenzi and Alex Coward. Raed Hassan, who seems far more at ease with his karting these days, won the Masters class by coming home in ninth overall, beating non-Master Ali Al Najjar along the way. Kevin Day, whose season has seen a combination of wins, flips and first corner flying experiences was second in the Masters class. All too often has Kevin been the unfortunate victim in the first corner shoulder barges and he will be hoping to see the season out without any more airborne skirmishes’. He narrowly held off Tom Walker. As ever, a full set of Masters results can be viewed somewhere else on the website because, between you and me, I can never remember what happened.

The 125 MAX points table makes for intriguing reading, if you like numbers and spreadsheets. Philippe moves into the lead of the class on 729 points with Abdullah in second on 691. Alex is third on 686 and Piers is in fourth with 607 points. Ameer Hassan would be up there too had he been eligible to score points in the 2012 half of the season.

The Masters are even closer, and well worth keeping an eye on. Kevin Day is heading the way on 494 points from Walid Al Qassemi in second who has 483. Raed Hassan is third on 464 but interestingly Duncan Foster is fourth 435. I use the adjective “interestingly” since Duncan has done one round less and when the calculator starts chopping races at the end of the season that puts him in a strong position.

Aaaand finally we come to the DD2 class. Oliver George has written his name all over the series this year, but at no point has it been easy. With Mohammed Al Dhaheri ceasing competition it is up to Sanad Al Rawahi and Arnaud Bouf to try and wrestle the crown from Oli’s grasp. In Friday’s final, Sanad proved that he is prepared to fight to the death by taking maximum points and closing the gap, albeit not by much. Oli wouldn’t let him have it all his own way, however, as he came back at the Omani race leader in the dying laps. The pair traded fastest lap times but would finish as it started. Oli now sits on 862 points to Sanads 710 and Arnauds 654. Sanad has missed a round unlike the point’s leader so those of a mathematical disposition may wish to start working out possibilities.

Hussain Umid Ali kept himself out of trouble for once and beat Saeed Al Mehairi to third place. Saeed found a way by Patrick Jarjour in the early laps, although a post race discussion hinted to the fact that this manoeuvre may not have been clean. With no evidence to go on nothing could be done, and Patrick Jarjour and his pet beard remained in fifth place. He did, however, take victory in the DD2 Masters class; somehow. Tony Hogg put his recent misfortunes behind him to take sixth place overall and second in the DD2 Masters after a solitary drive. Championship hopeful, Arnaud Bouf, had a rotten day and recovered well to finish seventh overall and third in the Masters. Again, I’m jut typing out results in discourse, when a clear picture of who finished where is available on the results page.

The DD2 Masters points table tells me that Arnaud is still leading on 654 ahead of Patrick Beardface on 580. Jonathan Mowatt, whose luck is sure to turn any minute now, is third in the standings on 542.

I apologise for the delay in getting this report collection of words online. I won’t bore you with what happened but it involved an air conditioning technician, a trip fuse and my stupidity by failing to save it.

Remember what I said, it was a good day’s racing after a few choice words were whispered into the ears of the drivers, and I’ll do it every time if I have to. But don’t rely on other people needing to remind you about what is expected. If you keep your bumpers away from other people’s bumpers then really, what can go wrong? Think about it.

Next we, well, you, move to Yas Marina Circuit. For the first time in national karting history, a national round will take place on a Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. Well, part of it anyway. It will be a fantastic weekend and it will truly be one to remember, so don’t ruin it! JThe UAE Rotax MAX Challenge has certainly come a long, long way.

Otherwise I will see you at Al Ain Raceway for the season finale…

Martin Fullard.

The shiniest podium thus far