Round eight of the UAE Rotax Max Challenge visited Al Ain Raceway at the weekend.
Qualifying for the top-level DD2 class saw the top three drivers separated by just 0.1s as Sheikh Khalid Khalifa Al Nahyan took pole over championship leader Mohammed Al Dhaheri for the first time this season. The pre-final saw a further boon for Al Nahyan as Al Dhaheri retired with technical trouble. This gave Al Nahyan victory ahead of Arnaud Bouf.
These two filled the front row for the start of the final, ahead of Ali Al Darmaki and Shihab Al Faheem. Having resolved his technical issues, Al Dhaheri started from the back. Al Nahyah held the lead into turn one while Al Darmaki leapfrogged Bouf into second as Al Dhaheri tried to make up ground in the opening lap. Bouf looked to be faster than Al Darmaki but could not find a way through, until lap three when an over enthusiasrtic attempt at a pass put the two of them off the circuit. Al Darmaki was able to continue, but Bouf’s race was over.
By this time, Al Dhaheri had stormed through to second place but couldn’t catch Al Nahyan, who smashed the lap record with a time of 54.111 seconds. Shihab Al Faheem was third and Haytham Al Ali fourth ahead of Al Darmaki.
The Junior Max class saw reigning champion Edward Jones qualify 0.1 seconds faster than his close rival Shahaan engineer, ahead of Omani brothers Sanad and Abdullah Al Rawahi. The first heat saw Jones hold onto his lead, finishing a second ahead of Engineer with Sanad glued to his rear bumper and Abdullah two seconds further back. The Pre-Final yielded the same result, although with a more comfortable win for Jones.
The final saw disaster for Engineer as he was unable to start his engine during the formation lap. Frantic fixing saw the motor fire before the race got underway, but Engineer carved his way through the field before the start signal, which resulted in his disqualification as he should have started from the back. This left Jones with another easy victory, six seconds ahead of Sanad with Abdullah in third.
In the Senior Max class, Maurits Knopjes continued his fine season by taking winning both pre-final and final, helped by main rival Scott Latham failing to start the final after a technical problem. Paul Healy took second from Hussain Umid Ali in third.
In the Max Master class, Andrew Fuller heads towards the class title after wins over his closest challengers Luc Bauwmans and Ian Prestwich.
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