Karting: Round five of the DAMC, SWS & RMC races at the Dubai Kartdrome

Fri 18th Feb 2011: It was a bumper day of top notch karting at the Dubai Kartdrome on Friday, 18 February, featuring the RMC classes in the UAE national championship, the DAMC club championship and the SWS sprint races.

Max Seniors: Knopjes dominates

Maurits Knopjes openly regretted that pace setting Edward Jones was not present on race day, due to testing commitments abroad, as the Dubai based Dutchman relishes a good fight. Nevertheless he did not put a foot wrong all day and scored dominant wins in the heat race, pre-final and final of the Max Seniors.

Best of the rest was Omani youngster Sanad Al Rawahi who shadowed Knopjes in all three races but did not have an answer to the triple winner’s pace.

The highlight in this class was the massive battle for third place throughout the day involving a host of drivers eager to take the final step of the podium, including: Arnaud Bouf, Raffaele De Lorenzi, Ali Al Najjar and newcomer Dieter Roelen.

Bouf scored third place in the heat race, De Lorenzi was third in the pre-final, but in the final it was Roelen who got to stand on the podium at the end of the day.

Bouf won the race within the race, the Max Masters class from Perry Spruit, in second, who managed to keep at bay third placed Paul Woodfield and Walid Al Qassimi after a race long battle in the final.

DD2 Class: Raza times it right to win the final

Invariably it is a a small field that gathers for the shifter kart DD2 class, but all drivers have the capability of taking top honours the racing is inevitably of the highest calibre. Friday was no exception. Ali Hamad Al Darmaki took the heat race win from Mohammed Al Dhaheri in second and Patrick Jarjour third. Regyular pace setters Sheikh Khalid Al Nayan and Ashraf Raza scored DNFs due to mechanical issues.

In the pre-final Raza gave a sign of what was to come by storming from the back of the grid to take second place behind Al Dhaheri with Jarjour again third.

In the final showdown it was Raza who took control of proceedings to score one of his finest victories of his karting career. Al Darmaki bounced back from a DNF in the pre-final to take second place with Jarjour making it  a hat-trick of third place finishes on the day.
Max Juniors: Pakenham-Walsh pushed hard all day

With each race the competition in the Max Juniors class gets tougher and tougher. With the arrival of young Cyrus Engineer on the scene the stakes are even higher. The youngster started the day well with the narrowest of wins from reigning champion Piers-Pakenham Walsh with Abdullah al Rawahi third.

Pakenham-Walsh made no mistakes thereafter winning the next two races, but was made to work hard by Engineer and Al Rawahi in both races, with Al Rawahi claiming the runner-up spot in the final ahead of third placed Engineer.

Ever improving Ameer Hassan had a strong showing with third place in the pre-final and fourth place in the heat race and final.

Cadet Class: Bale bounces back to after heat race disqualification

After being disqualified in the first Cadet heat, reigning champion dug deep and bounced back by taking victory in both the pre-final and final as has become his custom in this category.

Pascal Pook took victory in the heat race and was runner-up to Bale in the next two races. Third place in the final went to Taymour Kermanshahehi who was second in the heat race and third in the pre-final.

Bale’s winning margin in the final was 11.5 seconds and his fastest lap was almost a second faster than his closest rival.

SWS Master Cup: Joudi two good on the day

One of the revelations of 2011 has been the rise to prominence of Rami Joudi in the hotly contested SWS Master Cup for the state-of-the-art Sodi leisure karts. He scored his maiden win last time out and apparently is finding the winning habit hard to kick.

By his own admission, “I don’t qualify well,” admits Joudi. But whatever he lacks in qualifying he made up for by winning both the Master Cup sprint races in an impressive manner and beating some of the best leisure karters in the country.

Less than as second separates the top half dozen drivers in this class and two seconds covers the entire field. The racing is always close and action packed.

Paul Chatenay qualified on pole, with regular Max Seniors driver Maurits Knopjes second best from Joudi in third and Sam Zian in fourth. These four set the pace at the front but it was Joudi who muscled his way past and once in the lead there was little to stop him from taking the cheqeured flag in the first race. Chatenay was second with Oscar Slawinsky taking third.

Although Joudi won race two he botched the start and soon Chatenay, Zian and Knopjes were through. But the Dubai based motorsport journalist is on a streak and with a few laps to go was in the lead where he stayed to the end. His Speedsters team mate Zian was second with Knopjes third.

SWS Star Cup: No stopping Al Barwani

Atef Al Barwani has emerged as one of the country’s top leisure kart racers and on Friday there simply was no one to touch him as from pole position he powered to victory in both races of the SWS Star Cup and notching up two emphatic wins and the fastest lap in the process. A good day for the Emirati driver.

Hussain Umid Ali was second in the first race with Ben Case third. In Race two Nathan Stevens took second place with Case again third

Again the SWS Star Cup boasted the biggest grid and as a result there were private battles among groups of drivers across field.

Round 6, the final round of the DAMC championship takes place on 18 March 2011 at the Dubai Kartdrome