Report 6 RMCGF 2023: Great racing for a spot in the finals

What a sight to see at the Bahrain International Karting Circuit, as warm sunshine and blue skies from up above provided welcoming and fantastic weather for what would be a great day of celebration and action-packed racing under the floodlights for the Pre-Finals.
 
Along with that, all 384 drivers from 62 nations would provide the biggest highlight of the 2023 RMC Grand Finals, by walking along the main start/finish straight in their race suits with the flags of their countries proudly held high. This was also with all the teams from BRP-Rotax and the chassis partners for the traditional Drivers’ Picture in the Grandstand.
 
It is a sight that showcases the bond of friendships that have been made over the week, national pride, and bringing our Rotax family together again, with the families that have also made the journey providing a heightened and emotional atmosphere in this magical moment.
 
With the racing taking place from sunset to the depths of nighttime, the Pre-Finals would provide both drama and great action, which would then set the grids for tomorrow’s finals for this year’s RMCGF. We are so excited and can’t wait to be back on track tomorrow morning to crown our winners. 96 drivers will leave us after today’s racing, and we want to say a big thank you for your hard work and effort this week and wish you all good luck racing next year.
 

E20 Senior:

Germany’s Mats Johan Overhoff (#601) won the E20 Senior Pre-Final after 10 laps by 2.189 seconds, after initially having to battle to take the lead from Spencer Brougham, who would drop down to 10th place, but would make his way back up the order to eventually finish in sixth. Christopher Holst (#604) and Phillip Loacker (#605) would complete the top three for Switzerland, where there was very close battling for the final two spots in the top three. 

Poland’s Piotr Borowczyk (#608) would claim fourth, whilst Denmark’s Marius Lyager Rose (#607) completed the top five. Knud Nielsen (#606 – DEN) would finish in seventh behind Brougham, with Dominik Deak (#615 – HUN) managing to equal his best race result of the RMCGF. Sebastian Bach (#603 – DEN) would finish just 0.081 seconds behind Deak at the finish, whilst Canada’s Frederique Lemieux (#609) completed the top ten. 

However, Brougham and Lemieux would receive 5 second front bumper penalties post-race, with the Briton and Canadian respectively demoted to 10th and 11th, which promoted the UK’s Cameron Crockett (#612) ninth in the amended results. 

With a total of 163 points, Overhoff will start on Pole Position for tomorrow’s Grand Final ahead of Loacker, Holst, Brougham, and Borowczyk, who rounded out the Final Classification. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up for E20 Senior starts at 09:16 Arabian Standard Time.

E20 Masters:

The winning streak of Brazil’s Joao Goncalves continues, as the #705 would take the win by 2.910 seconds ahead of Cyprus’ Igor Mukhin (#709). Mukhin would still have to battle with  Andreas Matis (#707 - DEU) over the race duration, with the German having to settle for third place. 

Switzerland’s Gilberto Loacker (#703) would have another steady run to finish in fourth, 6.903 seconds ahead of Portugal’s Joao Dias (#708), who started in eighth. Chile’s Hector Ramirez (#702) would hold position in sixth, with Yi-Hsien Chu (#706) and Portugal’s Manuel Martins (#704) made it to the finish in seventh and eighth respective. 

Post-race, Matis would be promoted to second ahead of Mukhin, as the latter had a front bumper penalty. 

Goncalves will start the Grand Final tomorrow on Pole Position, with Matis alongside him on the front row, with Mukhin and Loacker comprising row two. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up for E20 Masters starts at 09:16 Arabian Standard Time.

E10 E-Kart Cup: 

The sole Non-Qualifying Practice session for the inaugural E10 E-Kart Cup concluded the racing action on Pre-Finals Day, as 12 drivers would go out for a 10-minute session to get aquainted with the all-electric powertrain. Poland’s Filip Kijanowski (#805) would be the quickest around the 1.414km circuit with a 1:01.756, 0.127 seconds ahead of Ireland’s Ben Mccloughry (#812 – 1:01.883), with Aleksander Rogowski (#802 – POL – 1:01.953) and Natan Rybczynski (#803 – POL  - 1:02.067) completing the top four drivers. 

Greece’s Eleftherios Toumpakas (#806) was fifth on a 1:02.269, ahead of the USA’s Gage Korn (#811 – 1:02.309), whilst David Matlak (#807 – SRB), Prokhor Solukovtsev (#808 – KGZ), Leopold Juch (#809 – CHE) and Bahrain’s Ahmed Alkhalifa (#804) completed the top ten. 

Qualifying Practice for E10 starts at 09:03 Arabian Standard Time tomorrow morning. 

Micro MAX:

The closest finish in the 2023 RMC Grand Finals so far happened in the Micro MAX Pre-Final, as the USA’s Lucas Palacio (#12) took the win just 0.006 seconds ahead of the UK’s Emerson Macandrew Uren (#33) after nine laps of the 1.414-km circuit.  It would also see the top four drivers covered by 0.320 seconds, as Oliver Spencer (#9 – GBR) and Patrikas Jocius (#13 – LTU) finished third and fourth respectively, separated by only 0.039 seconds, as Ecuador’s Julian Rivera (#14) completed the top five. 

Denmark’s Andreas Kjellerup (#19) would make up nine places to take sixth place at the finish, 0.009 seconds behind Rivera and 0.269 seconds ahead of the UK’s Edwards Haynes (#4). Jenson Chalk (#30 – GBR) would end up down in ninth on the road but ended up eighth after Croatia’s Vito Coza (#8) was excluded post-race for an exhaust not conforming to the regulation., with Thailand’s Posh Kongchol (#32) and Blazej Kostrzwea (#31 – POL) completing the top ten. 

Please note that the results of the Final Classification are provisional, pending official confirmation at this time. 

Palacio will be cheered along by Team USA, as the #12 will start from Pole Position in the Grand Final tomorrow, with Macandrew Uren alongside for company in the front row. There will also be quite a few drivers behind them in contention for the title, such as Spencer, Jocius, Rivera, and Chalk amongst others. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up starts at 09:27 Arabian Standard Time.

Mini MAX: 

Ilie Tristan Crisan (#149 - CAN) would secure the win on the road after ten laps by 0.189 seconds in a very closely fought battle, where many of the drivers at the front of the field would be in contention. But the Canadian would be demoted all the way down to 18th place, after a post-race front bumper penalty. Estonia’s Nikita Ljubimov would lead the race twice but would have to settle for second place before being promoted to being the race winner. 

Canada’s Alexis Baillargeon would have a nasty scare towards the end of the race, after the UK’s Charlie Woolfitt (#135) went for a late move on the #150, but the Briton would spin around and end up down to 28th. But the #150 would also be found to have a front bumper out of position, putting him down to 20th in the amended results. Cole Denholm (#135 – GBR) would start from Pole Position but ended up third ahead of the #154 of Zdenek Babicek (CZE). 

Thailand’s Poomsit Klombunjong (#166) would climb an astonishing 1 position to secure a fantastic fourth-place finish, ahead of the UK’s Rory Armstrong (#138). Jacob Ashcroft (#122 – GBR) would cross the finish line in sixth, having gone off the circuit just after the halfway point, with Mexico’s Ruben Oseguera Gutier (#115), the USA’s Matteo Quinto (#120), Daniil Voinov (#158 – KGZ) and South Africa’s Reagile William Mailula (#107) rounded out the top ten.

Pre-Final B was won by the UK’s Albert Friend (#130) by a margin of 0.157 seconds ahead of Team Belgium’s Lars Lambers (#168) after 10 laps, as they pulled away for the rest of the field, with a lot of racing action happening behind the pair. It was another of Team Belgium that would round of the top three, as the (#137) of Alexander Van Meeuwen would win the battle for third place, closely followed by Germany’s Maxim Becker (#155) and Niklas Cassarino (#112). 

Malaysia’s Travis Teoh (#169) would initially drop towards the bottom of the top ten, but then made his way back up the order to take sixth, ahead of Hungary’s Marko Fally in the #140, who would at one point run as high as third place. Joshua Griffin (#131 – GBR) would start in sixth, but end up finish in eighth, ahead of countryman Oliver Warner (#139), who made significant progress having started all the way down in 32nd, whilst Chile’s Vicente Garcia Briceno (#121) completed the top ten. 

Denholm will start from Pole Position in tomorrow’s Mini MAX Grand Final, having scored 219 points so far, with Friend second (205 points), whilst Lambers (192 points) will be third on the grid, in front of Ljubimov (180 points) and Van Meeuwen (163 points) rounding out the top five on the starting grid. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up starts at 09:38 Arabian Standard Time.

Junior MAX: 

Timo Jungling (#221 – GBR) would win Pre-Final A after 11 intense laps of racing, 0.392 seconds in front of France’s Tom Dussol (#250), who started in ninth place. Dussol would narrowly avoid the incident involving Belgium’s Beau Lowette (#237) and the Netherlands’ Kasper Schormans (#254) at turn two on lap nine. The UK would have another two drivers finish in the top four, with Thomas Bearman (#238) third, 0.075 seconds in front of Joshua Graham (#226). It was another good performance from Belgium’s Oliver Jonckers (#236), who moved up from tenth to take fifth. 

Germany’s Hannes Überfeldt (#202) made up eight places to secure sixth, just 0.060 behind Jonckers, whilst Canada’s Lucas Deslongchamps (#246) would finish behind the German. The Netherlands’ Mika Van De Pavert (#240) would also be in contention for a top three result, but would have to settle for eighth, ahead of Finland’s Santeri Laitonen (#213), who gained 15 places to take ninth, in front of Japan’s Lu You-De (#204) who completed the top ten. 

France’s Louis Comyn (#264) would take the victory in Pre-Final B, taking the lead from third on the opening lap and would comfortably bring his IPK Praga across the line after 11 laps, finishing ahead of countryman Thomas Pradier (#235). Bahrain’s Luca Houghton (#206) continued to show that he is clearly one of the favourites for tomorrow’s Grand Final by securing third, ahead of Lebanon’s Christopher El Feghali (#201), who started down in seventh place. Australia’s Max Walton (#242) moved up six places over the course of the race to round out the top five. 

The UK’s Archie Clark (#223) would hold position in sixth, in front of Switzerland’s Tino Sidler (#214), who would make his way up to second, but would end up finishing in seventh at the finish line. Pole sitter Kenzo Craigie (#229 – GBR) would not get the best of starts, dropping to fourth and would then end up finishing in eighth, ahead of Jordan’s Hamza Al Fayez (#269) making it all the way to ninth from 24th, whilst Alberto Kiko Fracassi (#208 – ITA) completed the top ten. 

France’s Comyn (190 points) will start from Pole Position tomorrow, ahead of Jungling, Houghton and Graham, who were all equal on 187 points after all races that have taken place so far, followed by Craigie in fifth on 174 points. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up starts at 09:49 Arabian Standard Time.

 
Senior MAX:

It would be a British 1-2-3 in Pre-Final A, with Macauley Bishop (#326) taking the victory after 14 action-packed laps by 0.876 seconds in front of Lewis Gilbert (#332), with Sean Butcher (#303) completing the top three, who were covered by just over a second. Austria’s Daniel Hauswirth (#352) would continue his strong run of form by finishing in fourth, only 0.098 seconds adrift from Butcher at the finish, whilst France’s Adam Rahali (#359) initially completed the top five, but would drop to 13th after a post-race front bumper penalty. 

Oliver Hodgson (#307 – GBR) would start from the outside of the front row but would end up down in fifth at the finish, ahead of countryman Matthew Higgins (#318) by 0.202 seconds, with Belgium’s Kaï Rillaerts (#357) ending up in seventh. Miska Kaskinen (#306 – FIN), Austin Lee (#356 – DEU), and Matej Konik (#327 – SRb) would complete the top ten in the amended results after Greece’s George Kafantaris (#363) was excluded post-race after a technical non-conformity with his kart’s exhaust.

The UAE’s Theo Kekati would initially take the win by 0.696 seconds in Pre-Final B after a stern defence in the latter stages of the 14-lap encounter, but he ended up 15th after a post-race front bumper penalty. The UK’s Mark Kimber (#328) and Kai Hunter (#334) would thereby inherit first and second place officially, being split by just 0.105 seconds at the finish, ahead of Aron Krepscik (#351) from Hungary. Ethan Jeff-Hall (#308 – GBR) and Sweden’s Simon Ohlin (#325) would complete the top five. 

The remainder of the top ten would also be changed with multiple drivers receiving front bumper penalties, with Canada’s Laurent Legault (#348), who made it to sixth, having started down in 15th position, with Theo Eriksen (#366 – NOR), Jules Roussel (#350 – FRA), Cooper Oclair (#312 – USA) and Italy’s Elia Pappacena (#345) rounding out the top ten. Roussel and Oclair made great progress, gaining 13 and 15 positions respectively. 

It is a top-five British lockout for tomorrow’s Grand Final, with Butcher starting from Pole Position, with Hunter alongside him on the front row, whilst Kimber, Hodgson, and Glibert rounding out the starting order, with Austria’s Hauswirth starting from sixth. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up starts at 10:00 Arabian Standard Time.

MAX DD2:

It was a third win from four races so far for Leonardo Baccaglini (#420), as he would secure victory in Pre-Final A for MAX DD2, a comfortable 3.125 seconds ahead of Austria’s Philipp Moitzi (#401) in second, with Slovenia’s Xen De Ruwe (#409), who started fifth and rounded out the top three. Estonia’s Ragnar Veerus (#441), who started in second, was battling to hold on, but ended up down in fourth in front of Spain’s Guillermo Pernia Diaz (#449). 

Canada’s Gianluca Savaglio (#452) would secure sixth place, over 2.2 seconds in front of France’s Noa Hipp (#445), with Antoine Broggio (#430 – FRA) moving up from 12th position at the start finishing behind his countryman in eighth. Italy’s Michael Rosina (#414) would finish a mere 0.105 seconds behind Broggio, whilst Sweden’s Rasmus Fridell (#417) would complete the top ten, having taken the start all the way down in 20th. 

The Czech Republic’s Jakub Bezel (#453) would have to fight for the win and would do so by just 0.071 seconds after 14 laps, ahead of Finland’s Axel Saarniala (#432). In a race that saw the top five finishers covered by 0.922 seconds, Hungary’s Bende Szabo (#416) would start on the outside of row three in sixth but would be able to complete the top three, ahead of Denmark’s Rasmus Vendelbo (#460) and the #413 of Victor Frost Bay (DEN), who were just 0.061 seconds apart at the finish. 

The UAE’s Harry Hannam (#470) would make up two places over the course of the race to end up sixth, 1.404 seconds ahead of 2021 RMC Grand Finals Champion Martijn Van Leeuwen (#467), who made his way from tenth to finish seventh. Latvia’s Patriks Noels Locmelis (#446) also made good progress through the top fifteen to take eighth place at the finish, ahead of Alexandr Plotnikov (#440 – KGZ) and Poland’s David Aulejtner (#437), who rounded out the top ten. 

Italy’s Baccaglini and the Czech Republic’s Bezel will line up on the front row of tomorrow’s starting grid for the Grand Final, with the former starting on Pole Position, despite the pair being level on 219 points at this stage. Veerus, Saarniala, Motizi and Vendelbo will round out the top three rows on what could be a very exciting MAX DD2 Grand Final.

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up starts at 10:22 Arabian Standard Time.

DD2 MAX Masters:

Please note that the results of the Pre-Final and Final Classification are provisional, pending official confirmation at this time. 

France’s Nicolas Picot (#513) would narrowly take victory in the Pre-Final, which saw some of the front runners suffering drama on the first few turns of the opening lap, including pole sitter Mathew Kinsman (#521 – NZL), Germany’s Denis Thum (#508), and Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello (#516). 

Picot would edge out Ben Cooper from Canada (#526) for the win by 76 thousands of a second, whilst Lithuania’s Martynas Tankevicius (#512) rounded out the top three, a further seventh tenths back. Italy’s Frederico Rossi (#503) would cross the finish line in fourth, ahead of Thum and Kinsman, who completed the top six drivers, but Barrichello’s race unfortunately ended on the opening lap. Chile’s Rodrigo Eckholt (#523) was able to secure seventh at the finish, followed by Slovakia’s Martin Konopka (#502), Latvia’s Henrijs Grube (#528) who started 15th, and Switzerland’s Jan Adriano (#502).

Picot now will set his sights on becoming a Grand Finals Champion, as he starts from Pole Position tomorrow, with Cooper alongside on the front. Tankevicius, Eckholt and Rossi complete the top five in the Final Classification. 

Tomorrow’s Morning Warm-Up starts at 10:11 Arabian Standard Time.

Overall Fastest Lap Times:

E20 Senior: 54.932 | Marius Lyager Rose | 607 | DEN
E20 Masters: 55.743 | Joao Goncalves | 705 | BRA
E10: 1:01.756 | Filip Kijanowski | 805 | POL
Micro MAX: 1:01.524 | Lucas Palacio | 12 | USA
Mini MAX:  58.342 | Ilie Tristan Crisan | 149 | CAN
Junior MAX: 54.219 | Martim Barros Meneses | 261 | POR
Senior MAX: 53.436 | Erich Heystek | 316 | KSA
MAX DD2: 52.483 | Leonardo Baccaglini | 420 | ITA
DD2 MAX Masters: 52.915 | Mathew Kinsman | 521 |NZL

Who knows - we may see you again next year!
 
Stay tuned, as tomorrow, you’ll also find out where we will go racing in 2024!