The 10 Qualifying Practices sessions officially kick off the first round of the Rotax MAX Challenge Euro Trophy. Over the 1360 meters of Karting Genk: The Home of Champions, the traditional opening round venue of the RMCET, 239 drivers vied for pole position in the 5 classes involved in the event.

In superb weather conditions, the 245 drivers of the Rotax MAX Challenge International Trophy competed in 28 Qualifying Heats to select the finalists and determine the starting order of the decisive Prefinals and Finals to be run on Saturday 30th July in Le Mans.

The first and long awaited stage of the Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy, the Qualifying sessions took place on the morning of Thursday 28th July at the Circuit International du Mans. Léni Robillot Lagache (FRA) in Micro Max, Dragos Avasilcutei (AUT) in Mini Max, Austin Lee (DEU) in Junior Max, Kai Rillaerts (BEL) in Senior Max, Antoine Barbaroux (FRA) in DD2 and Vivien Cussac-Picot in DD2 Masters are the six polemen of this fourth edition of RMCIT.

After the cancellation of the 2020 event, the Birel ART factory has resumed its strong partnership with Rotax on the occasion of the "Grand Finals" organised at the magical setting of the Bahrain circuit. For the supply of chassis for the Rotax DD2 and Micro Max categories, the Italian brand was once again chosen for its top-of-the-range products, its rigour, its flawless logistics and its quality of service. 108 drivers produced exciting races thanks to perfect sporting equality.

The welcoming morning breeze in Sakhir not only provided a cooling sensation to the already hot temperatures around the 1.414-km circuit but also brought along the air of heightened anticipation for what was to transpire today, amidst the sands of the Persian Gulf.

The 2021 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals moved into the Pre-Final stages of the event here in Bahrain, as further excitement lay in store for all the drivers around the challenging and fast-flowing 1.414-km circuit. Not only was the surrounding temperature courtesy of the sunshine beating down from up above just as intense as it has been all week, but the action out on track would again welcome the aura of nighttime and floodlight-covered racing. 

On this 5th Day of the RMC Grand Finals in Bahrain we saw a lot of exciting action on the track and very motivated racers throughout the whole event area. Yesterday’s racing was very crucial to see where drivers would place for today’s Pre-Finals, as the combination from the intense 27-degree heat at its highest, the general atmosphere and the sheer racing action and thrilling fights would heighten both, the emotions of everyone at the circuit and those watching on from the official Live Stream. 

Following on from two days of Non-Qualifying Practice at the circuit, it was time to get the racing action underway amidst the sandy surroundings, with an increase in the air temperature at the track providing a perfect backdrop to the excitement of Qualifying Practice and the first set of Qualifying Heats for all competitors.

Let’s take a look back to the Welcome GetTogether which took place yesterday evening at the spacious Formula 1 paddock and let’s review this second day on which the motivated racers had their first time on track with their brand new karts for the non-qualifying practices. The beginning of these NQ-practices have been scheduled very late so that the racers had the opportunity to drive in the floodlight for the first time in this week.

After the 30 Qualifying Heats of the Rotax MAX Challenge International Trophy, most of the polemen confirmed the competitiveness revealed during the Qualifying Practice in race conditions.