After a week of world class endurance racing at Dubai Autodrome, action moves over the boulevard at Motorcity to the Kartdrome for a first ever double header weekend this Friday and Saturday, featuring the UAE Rotax Max Challenge races and SWS Sprint races.
It’s back to grassroots racing, after a couple of months lay off and, if the pre-event testing is anything to go by, competitors are itching to kick start their karting season with the double header providing a mouth watering prospect. The weekend will see the country’s top kart drivers in action in no fewer than 34 races over the two day period.
Guaranteed to provide non-stop action are the Rotax Max categories including: Mini Max, Junior Max, 125 Max and the DD2Class. The highlight should be the 125 Max races with 28 drivers entered. Drivers to watch include the likes of Abdullah Al Rawahi, Piers Pakenham-Walsh, Alexandre Silanine and Philippe Valenza.
The DD2 is becoming increasingly competitive and as a result there has been little to separate Sanad Al Rawahi, Oliver George and Mohammed Al Dhaheri this season. The trio are expected to again be slugging it out for top spot on the podium.
A healthy grid of drivers is also expected in the Junior Max Class with Thomas Bale making a cameo appearance, prior to resuming his international karting campaign, and should be the man to beat. Pasqual Pook and Taymour Kermanshahchi are likely to be in among the front runners.
The tiniest race drivers in the country will line up on the Mini Max grid with Tehmur Chohan, if recent results are anything to go by, the kid to beat and will be chased hard by the likes of Sem Knopjes, Alain Bauwmans and Ivan Berets.
Also on the bill on the first day (Friday) are SWS Sprint races for RX7 and RX250 kart categories. These are the first round of the 2013 SWS Sprint season which count towards the SWS World Ranking and rewards the top finishers with a berth in the SWS World Finals at the end of the year.
In the SWS RX250 class the cream of leisure karters will be battling it out over two races. Early entries include the Azzam brothers Rami and Ramez, Atef Al Barwani, Hussain Umid Ali and Sam Zian. All these drivers know their way around the Kartdrome and how to make it on to the top step of the podium. They can be counted on to provide another intriguing contest.
There is no closer racing than what takes place in the SWS RX7 class, which last season enjoyed bumper grids and delivered some of the closest racing ever witnessed at the Kartdrome.
This year much of the same is on the menu. On the day the Azzam brothers along with Barwani and Zian will be busy drivers as they are among those down to contest the SWS RX7 along with the RX250 races. A 30 driver field is expected and the likes of Mohammed Al Mutawaa and Tom Soubiron also in the mix and quite capable of taking top honours. On Saturday the popular and rapidly growing SWS Junior LR4 category races will take place, with a host of young guns battling it out for victory in two heats. Also on the day will be time trials for Bambino class competitors.
On both days (Friday and Saturday) track action begins at 10.00 am with a warm-up session for the Mini Max drivers. Qualifying is at 10.45 am, with the first race of 16 on the day set to be flagged off at 11.45 am. The podium ceremony, at the end of the race day is expected to be around 17.45 pm. Fans are welcome to attend on Friday and Saturday, where admission is free with good viewing access of all the action. Refreshments and snacks will be available throughout the two days.
