It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Sharm El Sheikh for the 10th annual Rotax MAX Grand Finals. This is the last day of racing and everything is up for grabs now. Who will be DD2 champion? Who will win the Nations Championship? To answer all those questions, the races must be run. One thing is already known, whoever the drivers are that reach the podium, they will have fought very hard to get there and will be deserving champions indeed.
The Junior MAX pre-final got underway at 10:10 and was set to run for 12 laps. Making a fantastic start from outside the front row to take the lead over pole-sitter Edward Brand (UK) was Japanese driver Ukyo Sasahara. Not to be outdone, Edward gathered himself together and re-took the lead on lap two.
During the first lap, Edward Brand (UAE), the Junior who set the fast time in qualifying, ran into problems and dropped from his fourth starting position to 30th. He was able to get everything sorted enough to climb back through the field to finish 16th in a very impressive drive.
During all this, Matthew Parry (UK) had done a steady start to the race and just started methodically moving his way to the front. By lap seven he was in the lead to stay and the race ran out with him the winner.
The Junior MAX Pre-Final top three were:
1. Matthew Parry (United Kingdom)
2. Edward Brand (United Kingdom)
3. Ukyo Sasahara (Japan)
The Senior MAX Pre-Final was the second straight win for the United Kingdom as it was Luke Varley in the lead all the way to the end. At the end of the first lap it was Sandro Lukovic (AUT) in second followed by Joey Wimsett (USA) in third. On the seventh lap Mario Vendla (EST) got by Wimsett for second. On the next lap, Matthew Hamilton (NZ) was able to get around the American for third. In the end, Varley pulled out an impressive lead to win by over five seconds over Mario Vendla.
The Senior MAX top three were:
1. Luke Varley (United Kingdom)
2. Mario Vendla (Estonia)
3. Matthew Hamilton (New Zealand)
The DD2 Pre-Final saw South Africa’s Ralph Odendaal on the pole. Ralph has so far set fast qualifying time and won all his heat races. The Pre-Final confirmed that he is the man to beat this year at Ghibli Raceway as he got a clean start and pulled away to win comfortably by 3.3 seconds over Denis Thum (GER). In fact, in the later laps of the race, Ralph was making is look almost relaxing as he cruised around the circuit.
Behind Ralph the action was all the way through the field. On lap two, Denis Thum took over second spot from Maik Bartens (HOL) followed by Cody Hodgson (USA). Just past the half way point, Hodgson was able to make his way into third ahead of Japan’s Yuya Hirayama.
The DD2 Pre-Final top three were:
1. Ralph Odendaal (South Africa)
2. Denis Thum (Germany)
3. Cody Hodgson (United States)
At straight up Noon, it was time for the driver’s parade. This is a very colorful moment of the Grand Finals when all the drivers from all the teams assemble in their suits and march onto the track in team formation. The lead drivers get the honor of carrying their country’s flag. It is the most popular photo opportunity of the entire week.
After the driver’s parade it was time to get serious. The last set of races, the finals, were about to take place. All that had happened until now was just for position. The final is the race that pays the trophy and the title of Grand Finals champion.
The first final to take place was a 20-lap race for the Junior MAX competitors. On pole was Matthew Parry who was focused on taking the win after his pre-final victory. Edward Brand (UK) and Ukyo Sasahara (JPN) had their own plans as well and promised to go for the front.
The start was clean with only minor contact. At the end of the first lap, it was Edward Brand who had taken the lead over Sasahara and Parry. As good as it was going for the top three, the day had turned into a nightmare for Edward Jones (UAE), the driver who qualified number one. Edward’s race day was beset with problems and, midway through the final, he was seen limping pack to the pits and into retirement. Hopefully we’ll see Edward have better fortune in future Grand Finals.
Back at the front, Edward Brand was holding a steady lead over Sasahara. Then, with just two laps to go, the Japanese driver slipped into the lead. His supporters from the land of the rising sun burst into jubilation, cheering Ukyo all the way to the checkered flag.
At the end of the Junior MAX race, the top ten were:
1. Ukyo Sasahara (Japan)
2. Matthew Parry (United Kingdom)
3. Edward Brand (United Kingdom)
4. Miika Laiho (Finland)
5. Luke Rochford (Australia)
6. Muhammad Jan Al Jeffry (Malaysia)
7. Kay van Kemenade (Netherlands)
8. Henry Hunter (United Kingdom)
9. Aavo Talvar (Estonia)
10. Felipe Vargas (Costa Rica)
Senior MAX saw their Final go off promptly at 2:10 PM. In addition to the trophy and the world title, the winner of this race would receive a 2.0 liter Formula Renault test with van Amersfoort Racing. The pole position was occupied by the UK’s Luke Varley who was looking to capitalize on his Pre-Final win by grabbing an early lead in the Final.
While on the grid before the race, announcer Ken Walker could be heard interviewing the top drivers on the grid. During this time the sun was getting quite warm but, thankfully, there were umbrella girls on the grid to provide ht e drivers some shade in their thick safety suits.
At the drop of the green flag, it was Matthew Hamilton (UK) getting a great jump and assuming the early lead. Behind Hamilton, second place belonged to a handful of drivers over the first five laps until Mario Vendla (EST) assumed the position. By this time, however, Luke Varley, who had fallen down to fifth on the first lap, was already back in the lead and pulling a small gap on the field.
The lead Varley had was one he would keep until the end of the race. In the end he was able to hold a 1.7 second lead over Mario Vendla (EST), who held 3.4 seconds over Matthew Hamilton of New Zealand.
At the end of the Senior MAX Final, the top ten were:
1. Luke Varley (United Kingdom)
2. Mario Vendla (Estonia)
3. Matthew Hamilton (New Zealand)
4. Joey Wimsett (United States)
5. Mike Simpson (United Kingdom)
6. Andreas H. Jensen (Denmark)
7. Phillip Arscott (United States)
8. John Norris (Ireland)
9. Tyler Greenbury (Australia)
10. Mike Joosens (Netherlands)
DD2 was up last and all indication through the week had Ralph Odendaal the odds-on favorite for the title. The South African from Durban had set fastest qualifying time, won all his heat races and effortlessly won the Pre-Final. But, nothing is ever that straightforward in racing and, as the saying goes, that’s why they run the races.
At the start of the race Ralph was flanked by German Denis Thum and most expected an all-out battle between the two since the two had won five out of the six DD2 heats. But, that was not to be as Denis did not get a good start and it was American Cody Hodgson slotting into second. Unlike the heat races when Ralph had checked out on the pack, this time he could not get away from Hodgson who stayed on his tail.
Before the race when Ken Walker was interviewing the drivers, he asked South Africa’s Caleb Williams what his feelings were about not having the results in the heat races he had wanted. Caleb’s answer was simple, “It’s not over yet!” And sure enough, he was to move from a sixth place starting spot up to third by lap two. Then, on lap eight, when Cody Hodgson made a passing attempt on Odendaal that didn’t come off, he was into second. From that moment on, Williams stalked Odendaal until there were four laps to go and then made his move for a lead he was to hold until the end.
Back in the pack, there was passing and more passing all through the grid. The biggest mover of the race, by a long way, was American Troy Castaneda who charged through all the way from last place on the grid (34th), all the way up to fifth place!
After the final DD2 race, the top ten were:
1. Caleb Williams (South Africa)
2. Ralph Odendaal (South Africa)
3. Cody Hodgson (United States)
4. Kevin Gracholskis (Lithuania)
5. Troy Castaneda (United States)
6. Imre Brizdo (Hungary)
7. Mike Spencer (United Kingdom)
8. Jim Ringelberg (The Netherlands)
9. Joao Correia (Portugal)
10. Jason Pringle (Australia)
In addition to the main classes, the Grand Finals also has categories for Master’s competitors. Masters are drivers over the age of 32 that compete in the same class but for their own trophy. The Masters classes are very important to BRP-Powertrain because the older drivers who need a simple, reliable powerplant for their kart are at the heart of the Rotax MAX program.
The Senior MAX Masters top three are:
1. Christophe Adams (Belgium)
2. Jerome Bourquard (France)
3. Pedro Loures (Portugal)
The DD2 Masters top three is:
1. Jesus Santander (Spain)
2. Guy Pansart (France)
3. Stogian Gosevits (Greece)
Last, but certainly is the team championship, the Nations Cup. Each year every country must designate three of their drivers, one in each category, before any track action begins. The finishes of those drivers are added together and the team with the best score is the top nation for 2009.
This year, the top thee Nations at the Grand Finals are:
1. United Kingdom
2. United States
3. New Zealand |
