Seven national karting champions were crowned at a formal awards ceremony under the glow of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
This season’s UAE Rotax MAX Challenge (RMC) karting champions were crowned at a formal awards ceremony at the Yas Island Rotana Hotel on Thursday night. Over 200 people attended the prize-giving.
Run with the support of Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) and governed under license by the Automobile & Touring Club UAE (ATCUAE), the UAE RMC is the nation’s most well-attended and competitive domestic motorsport series.
Al Ain Raceway General Manager and series promoter, Guy Sheffield, told Gulf News that “This year has seen a total of 900 race entries spread across the season, that’s up from 797 the year before. We set a new record this season, with a single-race attendance of 93 drivers. It’s testament to the efforts of those involved. We have consistently gone up in numbers and are attracting lots of new talent to the series from both home and abroad”.
Such international attention has made the series all the more competitive.
Piers Pakenham-Walsh, winner of the DD2 gearbox championship, was unable to attend the event due to competition overseas. However he was able to speak to Gulf News, saying: “I'm delighted to have won it [DD2 Championship] for a second consecutive year. The level of competition has been the highest ever and this year has been a real challenge. The hard work paid-off and we accomplished what we set out to achieve at the start of the season”. Pakenham-Walsh claimed the title despite winning four races less than runner-up, and reigning World Champion, Sean Babbington.
The DD2 Masters champion was Jonathan Mowatt, who with 640 points said of his title: “There were times this year when I thought I could fight it out with the others [DD2 class], who are obviously younger and fitter, but mainly it was always a case of battling with the Masters. It was tough and it was close”.
The 125 MAX class was won by FG1000 champion Tom Bale. Bale dominated the campaign, claiming eight final wins along the way. Statistical dominance did not come as a surprise to the young Welshman. “We won every race that we entered apart from one, so we achieved what we set out to do at the start of the season” said Bale. He praised his competitors and stated that the level of competition had been “tough” throughout the season.
In the 125 Junior MAX class, Taymour Kermanshahchi scored more points than any other champion – 1101 – and romped to the title ahead of Fraser Rose and Alain Bauwmans. Kermanshahchi was modest in victory and paid homage to his rivals: “Every competitor is a threat when the helmet goes on. You treat every competitor as a learning curve in every way. I felt that Fraser Rose was my biggest threat, and he made me work hard for my title”.
Young Dutchman Sem Knopjes claimed the Mini MAX title by scoring 964 points. When asked what lessons he had learned from the campaign, he said: “The biggest lesson for me was getting used to the Mini MAX karts [having come up from the Micro MAX class], especially the overtaking since these karts are much faster. We practiced a lot and I want to thank my dad for that”.
The Micro MAX category was won by Jamie Day, who scored four wins, one less than eventual runner-up Ziggy Kermanshahchi. Day said that “Ziggy had a big crash at the end of the season, it was an awful crash. But I had been winning lots of heats over the season so I scored lots of points. It put me up there in contention”.
