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Middle East Karting Cup round 2: Who will be the boss in Dubai?
Published by Bas Kaligis 27 februari 2008 10:45 - Print | | The motto of the Middle East Karting Cup (MEKC) is “Inspiring Future Champions” and this week the Kartdrome at Dubai Autodrome hosts round two of the inaugural regional championship. Action starts on Wednesday 27 February with the first practice sessions and culminates with the finals on Saturday 1 March.
The MEKC aims to develop local karting champions, thereby enabling motorsport to take off in the Middle East. This is particularly important given that few national karting championships in the Middle East region are strong in terms of numbers except for Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE. This regional event aims to help the sport build momentum in terms of public interest while creating much needed competition among drivers.
The Dubai round of the MEKC will pit the UAE based drivers against the every best from the Middle East. The locals will be out to prove a point while the “foreigners” will be trying their utmost to trump the “locals” which paves the way for an intriguing contest.
The “foreign invasion” will be strong, headed by Austrian Kevin Reichard who dominated the MEKC first round in Sharm El Sheikh while multiple Egyptian Karting champion Ahmed Zidan and Jordanian Hamza Dirani had strong showings. Similarly in the Junior class it was all about one driver, namely Stepan Karasev who used his knowledge of CIK Ghibli Raceway to dominate the junior category. Egyptian Mazen Badawi and Syria's driver Pierre Georges were also impressive.
Top of the UAE based drivers list is Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum who is more often than not the pace setter in local senior Rotax Max karting races and should be hard to beat on home soil. Also capable of running up with the best are the likes of Rami Azzam, Scott Latham and Ashraf Raza to name some.
The local juniors will also provide a formidable challenge to the visitors with the likes of Elliot Patrick, Edward Jones and promising newcomer Shahaan Engineer eager to make their mark against international competition.
Thus the cream of the region’s karting fraternity will descend on the Kartdrome in what should be one of the most tightly contested events at the venue this year. Local drivers will be out to capitalize on the home track advantage.
The MEKC is based on the successful global Rotax Max Challenge and offers attractive racing prizes to the Champions namely: the top drivers of each category the privilege of competing with Europe's elite drivers in the prestigious Bridgestone Karting Cup taking place in Italy in October, 2008 and in the 3rd round of the Euro Challenge taking place in the Czech Republic in July, 2008. More than enough to inspire future champions. |
MEER NIEUWS OVER ROTAX MOJO MAX EURO CHALLENGE
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