Night racing kick starts season at Kartdrome

Drivers pose with the silverware at the end of a top night of racing at the Kartdrome

24 September 2011

If Friday at the Kartdrome is anything to go by, we are in for a bumper season of kart racing in 2011/2012. There were big fields in the heat of the Dubai night with a number of new drivers making their debut and out to impress, alongside seasoned drivers who in turn wanted assert themselves in the pecking order. These combined ingredients delivered action packed racing of the highest order and sets a most encouraging benchmark for the rest of the season.

Combined Max Seniors, Max Masters and DD2

Nikita Miliakov sent out a loud and clear signal to his rivals on Friday night: ‘I am the man to beat in the Max class’ as he powered to a hat-trick of victories – in the Heat race, Pre-Final and Final – after qualifying on pole earlier in the evening. Miliakov, a name to note down for the future,

Throughout the evening the battle behind the leader was a hard fought affair between Raffaelle De Lorenzi, Vincent Baron and Ali Al Najjar, with little to separate the trio. In the end it was De Lorenzi (second) and Baron (third) who made it on to the podium in the Final.

In the Max Masters Walid Al Qassemi was untouchable, notching up three wins on the night, including the all important Final where he was the best of all the Max drivers. He was shadowed all night by Andrew Fuller who finished second in the final, followed home by Arnaud Bouf in third.

Multiple UAE/DAMC champion Maurits Knopjes dominated the small DD2 field on the night, but  the Dutchman is confident that the fields will grow with some top drivers expected to join the category in future rounds – the names of Saeed Al Mehairi and Mohammed Al Mutawaa were being mentioned in the paddock.

Junior Max

There was a great deal of interest surrounding Tom Bale moving into Junior Max category after years of dominating the Cadet class and also doing a substantial amount of kart racing at the highest level abroad. The diminutive Dubai schoolboy was facing Max Junior pace setter Piers Pakenham-Walsh with the likes of Ameer Hassan and Cyrus Engineer in the mix for good measure.

From the outset it became clear that Bale meant business, qualifying on pole by a whopping half a second and winning the first heat from Pakenham-Walsh. Bale repeated the feat in the Pre-Final and it would have been brave to bet against him winning the Final. But Pakenham-Walsh, had other plans and dug deep to pull off arguably his best win to date at the Kartdrome with Bale snapping at his heels. The pair crossed the finish line in tandem and a new rivalry was born on the night – this one could turn out to be a season long thriller.

Engineer kept the top two in his sights throughout the evening and is likely to be in the mix as the season progresses as he has the pace and race craft to surpirse. The likes of Hassan and Patrick Hannah have matured into strong competitors who are also likely to feature in future. An intriguing year lies ahead in the junior ranks.

Cadet Class

All indications are that Taymour Kermanshahchi is going to be the new kid to beat in the Cadet Class despite a tough night at the Kartdrome. He started well by qualifying on pole, but followed that up with a DNF in the Heat race, but bounced back to take second in the Pre-Final before powering to victory in the Final.

Lucas Petersson was his main rival throughout the night winning the Heat and Pre-Final but had to settle for second when it mattered. Tahmud Chohan was also impressive, constantly in contention and taking a well deserved third place in the Final.

Download PDF: Race Results

Next Round

Round 2 of the DAMC Karting Championship and SWS Sprint Races at the Kartdrome take place on Friday, 14 October 2011.

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