It was Qualifying Practice and Heat 1 on the schedule today at the Bahrain International Karting Circuit as a late start would see the first wheel-to-wheel action of the weekend take place under the lights. However, a major delay due to some post-qualifying penalty reviews put a hamper on the day, and select races will be moved to tomorrow, including A vs B and C vs D heat races in Senior MAX, DD2 Master MAX, and DD2 MAX. Despite the delay and some increased tensions across competitions, the on-track racing proved to be incredible, something that the RMC Grand Finals has been accustomed to seeing.
More details and insights from today’s sessions can be found in the race report below.
Non-Qualifying Practice
E20 Senior
The one and only E20 Senior Non-Qualifying Practice on Wednesday was led by a familiar name as Jannick Jacobs of Team Germany led the way. Building momentum leading into Qualifying Practice, Jakobs topped the charts yet again, this time by .071 over Hungarian driver Levente Simon and Argentinian Maximo Casttro. Hot in pursuit were Anna Benedek (Hungary) and Spaniard Raul Vargas, who rounded out the top-five.
E20 Master
Jorge Matos (Ecuador) put down a blistering lap in Non-Qualifying Practice 6 to take the top spot by more than three tenths of a second, the largest gap across any class so far this Grand Finals week. Team Brazil’s Adriano Amaral was the best of the rest in second, with Team Argentina’s Julian Falivene third. UAE’s Maurits Knopjes beat Team Argentina’s Javier Fernandez for the fourth position, as the entire field would have some work to do to catch Matos.
Micro MAX
Benjamin Karajkovic (UAE) led a pair of drivers from Great Britain in Micro MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 6. Behind Karajkovic, Dhian Singh Pahal and Charlie Page clocked the second and third-fastest laps of the session, just ahead of Poland’s Jan Wozniak and Kyrgyzstan’s Lev Khovanskii to round out the top-five.
Mini MAX
Team Netherlands and Mik Klinkers led the way in the odd-numbered Non-Qualifying Practice 6, finding his way to the top of the time sheets by .091 and .135, respectively, over Arthur Pharoah and Riley Murri, both from Great Britain. UAE driver Oliver Spencer slotted into the fourth position with Team Netherlands book-ending the top-five with driver Cees Muys.
The even-numbered group was controlled by two countries, as Denmark placed drivers first and third, with Great Britain second, fourth, and fifth. Andreas Kjellerup had the momentum leading into Qualifying Practice as he was the quickest driver of the session, .060 ahead of Alfie Ward and .125 ahead of fellow countryman Finn Albert Jorgensen. Emerson Macandrew-Uren was fourth quick when the checkered flag flew ahead of Tom Read with the top-ten separated by .172.
Junior MAX
Kevin Pollak of Team Austria was a new name at the top of the Junior MAX time charts, doing so in Non-Qualifying Practice 6 with a lap time of 54.721, leading the way for Kyrgyzstan’s Danill Voinov. Denmark’s William Sterup Nielsen was .133 in arrears of Pollak in the third position ahead of Lithuanian driver Majus Mazinas and Team Ireland’s Ben McCloughry.
The even-numbered drivers completed their Wednesday Non-Qualifying practice faster than the odd-numbered competitors, with Denmark’s Kristian Sejersen leading the way with a lap of 54.481. UAE’s Nathan Kappen was .012 behind Sejersen in second, while Kai Clarke (Great Britain) was just .041 behind in third. Nik Brecelj from Slovenia beat Team Canada’s Rayan Ghandour for the fourth position, as once again, the top-ten were within .177 of the quickest session lap.
Senior MAX
It was a Great Britain lockout of the top-two positions in odd-numbered Non-Qualifying Practice 6 for Senior MAX led by Matthew Higgins. Showing his speed on Wednesday, Higgins led Sean Butcher by .020, Team Canada’s Olivier Mrak by .087, Denmark’s Mathias Kjellerup by .090, and Team USA’s Charlie Smith by .091 as the top-five were less than one tenth from the quickest session lap.
As in the odd-numbered sessions, Great Britain led the even-numbered group as well, at the hands of Macauley Bishop. With the group more spaced regarding lap time, Bishop was nearly a full tenth of a second ahead of Switzerland’s Tino Sidler in the second position. Tereza Babickova from Czechia was .177 back in third while Toby Gale (Thailand) and Omar Ghannoum (Team UAE) rounded out the top-five with Qualifying-Practice up next.
MAX DD2 Master
Lithuania was atop the DD2 Master time sheets in Non-Qualifying Practice 6 with Martynas Tankevicius leading the way. With the top-six separated by .098, it was Xen De Ruwe in the second position, just .022 back. Team Brazil’s Joao Cunha slotted himself into the third position, with Mat Kinsman (New Zealand) fourth and France’s Nicolas Picot rounding out the top-five.
MAX DD2
Team Belgium's Lenn Nijs looked to be the driver to beat in the odd-numbered DD2 MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 6 as he led the way by .044 over Jakub Bezel (Czechia) in P2. Dawid Maslakiewicz (Poland) was within a tenth of the quickest session lap in third with Team Finland’s Axel Saarniala and Dominik Reuters (Germany)rounding out the top-five.
The even-numbered DD2 MAX drivers closed out Non-Qualifying Practice 6 with Sem Knopjes (The Netherlands) once again at the helm. Leading the session by the slimmest of margins, Knopjes was .001 ahead of Team France driver Antoine Barbaroux and Edgars Vilcans (Latvia), who was one of the quickest drivers on Tuesday. Leo Gubser (Switzerland) was able to muster up a lap time that put him fourth on the charts, just ahead of George Kafantaris (Greece) in the fifth position.
Qualifying-Practice
E20 Senior
Jannik Jacobs (Germany) continued to have his way at the front of the E20 Senior field as he earned the RMC Grand Finals Pole Position with a lap time of 53.630. Behind him, Raul Vargas (Spain) was the second-quickest driver of the session, with Hungary’s Levente Simon slotting into the third position and the inside of row two. Hungary put two drivers in the top-five as Akos Madaras and Vedant Menon (Bahrain) rounded out the top-five.
Final Qualifying-Practice Results:
1. Jannik Jakobs – 53.630
2. Raul Vargas – 53.747
3. Levente Simon – 53.843
4. Akos Madaras – 53.876
5. Vedant Menon – 53.879
E20 Master
Maurits Knopjes (UAE) claimed the E20 Master Pole Position, leading Qualifying-Practice with a lap time of 54.271, just .099 ahead of Jorge Matos (Ecuador). Julian Falivene (Argentina) led fellow countryman Gaston Di Bella, with Manuel Martins (Portugal) rounding out the top-five.
Final Qualifying-Practice Results:
1. Maurits Knopjes – 54.271
2. Julian Falivene – 54.384
3. Jorge Matos – 54.467
4. Gaston Di Bella – 54.668
5. Manuel Martins – 54.793
Micro MAX
Quickest in Non-Qualifying Practice 6, Benjamin Karajkovic (UAE) continued to show his speed in Qualifying Practice, scoring the quickest lap of the session and pole position. Behind him, Gustavo Oliveira (Portugal) was the best of the rest in second, just ahead of the Polish trio of Jan Wozniak, Maximilian Safarzynski, and Maksymilian Rackowski.
Final Qualifying-Practice Results:
1. Benjamin Karajkovic – 1:01.476
2. Gustavo Oliveira – 1:01.906
3. Jan Wozniak – 1:01.912
4. Maximilian Safarzynski – 1:01.943
5. Maksymilian Raczkowski – 1:01.955
Mini MAX
Mini MAX odd-numbered Qualifying-Practice saw Julian Duemmer (Germany) lead the way with a 58.300, with Great Britain’s Riley Murro .045 behind in second. Italy’s Giovanni Pistore was third on the timing charts ahead of the Netherlands duo of Cees Muys and Mik Klinkers. Following post-session penalties, the top-five were reordered with Murro ahead of Pistore and Isaac Yoon, Duemmer was dropped to fourth on the results sheet, just ahead of Alfie Mair.
In the even-numbered group, it was a Great Britain lockout of the top-four positions led by Emerson Macandrew-Uren, although he was slightly slower than the even-numbered quickest driver. With a lap time of 58.417, he was .107 ahead of Alfie Ward, who bested Lucien Smith and Austin Oman. The first non-British driver was Spaniard Hugo Fuentes in the fifth position. Following the session and penalties were assessed, and Macandrew-Uren kept the top spot in his group ahead of Lucien Smith, Austin Oman, Ronaldo Koen and Tom Read.
Final Qualifying-Practice Results:
1. Riley Murro – 58.345
2. Giovanni Pistore – 58.372
3. Emerson Macandrew-Uren – 58.417
4. Isaac Yoon – 58.498
5. Julien Duemmer – 58.499
Junior MAX
The 2024 RMC Grand Finals Junior MAX champion was the fastest of the odd-numbered qualifying group as Jacob Ashcroft (Great Britain) was more than two tenths quicker than his closest competitor, Daniil Voinov from Kyrgyzstan. Amaru Adrianzen (Peru) found himself in the third position in the group when the checkered flag flew, with Thomas Hart (New Zealand) fourth, slightly ahead of Branislav Rentka (Slovakia) in the fifth position.
Team Canada and Rayan Ghandour led the even-numbered Junior MAX Qualifying Practice as a lap time of 54.342. The next two drivers, Owen Baroni (France) and Valentino Manta (Argentina), turned the same lap time at 54.369, with Baroni getting the position based on the second-best lap. Zdenek Babicek (Czechia) slotted himself into the fourth position, just .049 away from the Ghandour, while Nik Brecelj (Slovenia) rounded out the top five.
Final Qualifying Practice Results:
1. Jacob Ashcroft – 54.322
2. Rayan Ghandour – 54.343
3. Valentino – 54.369
4. Zdenek Babicek – 54.391
5. Nik Breclj – 54.394
Senior MAX
Ayden Ingratta picked a perfect time to be the quickest driver as he led the odd-numbered Qualifying Practice group with a lap time of 52.935. Great Britain drivers slotted into the second and third positions with Matthew Higgins and Cian Geraghty. Team France Mehdi Lassoued was fourth quick, .234 behind Ingratta, with Mathias Kjellerup (Denmark) rounding out the top five.
A new name also appeared at the top of the Senior MAX even-numbered qualifying session as Christos Oikonomou (Greece) led Ties Van Wijk (The Netherlands) by .113 and with a lap time of 53.256. Great Britain put another driver in the top three with Lewis Goff in third, just ahead of Martin Lichner (Slovakia) and Finnish standout, Santeri Laitonen.
Final Qualifying Practice Results:
1. Ayden Ingratta 52.935
2. Christos Oikonomou – 53.256
3. Cian Geraghty – 53.122
4. Ties Van Wijk – 53.369
5. Mehdi Lassoued – 53.169
DD2 Master MAX
A familiar name returned to the top of the DD2 Master MAX time sheets as Xen De Ruwe claimed the pole position by a commanding .204 over Gabriel Zughella (Argentina). It was Kyrgyzstan Dmitrii Kofanov who outpaced Team France driver Nicolas Picot for the third position, with multi-time Formula One race winner and former Scuderia Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) rounding out the top five.
Final Qualifying Practice Results:
Xen De Ruwe – 52.557
Gabriel Zughella – 52.761
Dmitrii Kofanov – 52.815
Nicolas Picot – 52.826
Rubens Barrichello – 52.838
DD2 MAX
Dawid Maslakiewicz (Poland) led the odd-numbered DD2 MAX drivers in Qualifying Practice with the top five separated by .064 in one of the tightest sessions of the weekend. Jakub Bezel (Czechia) was .012 behind in second.043 back was Harrison Hoey (Australia). Bendeguz Szabo (Hungary) was fourth on the speed charts, with Lawerence Herbots (Belgium) fifth.
Rasmus Vendelbo (Denmark) was the quickest driver in Qualifying Practice for the even-numbered DD2 MAX drivers with a lap time of 52.518. Behind him at 52.550, Mika Van De Pavert (The Netherlands) was ahead of Team France competitor Antoine Barbaroux. Sam Knopjes (The Netherlands) continued his run inside the top five, qualifying fourth in his group, just ahead of Josh Bethune (New Zealand) in P5.
Final Qualifying Practice Results:
1. Dawid Maslakiewicz – 52.357
2. Rasmus Vendelbo – 52.158
3. Jakub Bezel – 52.369
4. Mika Van De Pavert – 52.550
5. Harison Hoey – 52.400
Heat #1
E20 Senior / E20 Master
In a combined eight-lap race between the E20 Senior and Master competitors, Jannik Jacobs (Germany) led early with Levente Simon (Hungary) second and Raul Vargas (Spain) in the third position. In the E20 Master class, Maurits Knopjes (UAE) led early from Julian Falivene (Argentina) and Jorge Matos (Ecuador). Lap three saw Levente try to get by Jakobs using the boost button, but he was unable to complete the pass as the pair went wheel-to-wheel down the front straightaway. Behind them, Maximo Castro (Uruguay) was by Vargas for third at mid-race distance with Akos Madars (Hungary) in the fifth position. The E20 Master top five remained the same with Knopjes leading Falivene, Matos, Javier Fernandez, and Michel Aboissa. Jakobs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second at the start of the final lap and went on to take the heat one win. Levente Simon was the best of the rest in P2, with Maximo crossing the line in third. Raul Varga held on for the fourth position, just ahead of Niklas Cassarino (Germany). In the E20 Master class, Maurits Knopjes took the win ahead of Julian Falivene, Jorge Matos, Gaston Di Bella and Michel Aboissa.
Micro MAX
It was a six-lap Micro MAX race, with Benjamin Karajkovic (UAE) leading the field to the green lights, with Gustavo Oliveira (Portugal) to his outside. Jan Wozniak (Poland) and Maximilian Safarzynski (Poland) occupied row two, but as the lights went green, it was Karajkovic who jumped to the lead ahead of Oliveira. Lap two saw Wozniak move into the second position at the expense of Oliveira, with Charlie Page (Great Britain) up ten positions into the fourth position, just ahead of Dhian Singh Pahal (Great Britain. Halfway through heat one, Karajkovic led Wozniak as he was looking to fight for the win. Pahal had moved himself into the third position as he was a driver on the move. Wozniak moved to the lead before the end of lap four with Karajkovic closely behind. Wozniak went on to take the win ahead of Karajkovic and Dhian Singh Pahal, Charlie Page, and Benediktas Masiokas (Great Britain). Following the heat, Wozniak received an on-track penalty and was relegated to 11th, promoting Karajkovic to the win and bringing Albert Pharoah into the top five.
Junior MAX
The first Junior MAX heat, A vs B was next on track as overall pole position winner Jacob Ashcroft (Great Britain) would lead the alongside Canadian Rayan Ghandour. Thomas Hart (New Zealand) and Zdenek Babicek (Czechia) slotted into third and fourth for the start, with Albert Friend (Great Britain) and Taigen Sakano (Japan) in row three. Ghandour jumped to the lead on the opening lap ahead of Ashcroft, Friend, Panu Stienmonkong (Thailand), and Jeremy Reuvers (Spain), who gained 13 positions to fifth in the opening lap. Ashcroft moved to the lead on turn of lap three, pushing Ghandour to second as the rest of the top five remained static. Lap four is when the positions started to change as Ghandour took the lead with Ashcroft second, Friend third, Reuvers fourth, and Stienmonkong in the fifth position. With two laps to go, Ghandour began his defense as Ashcroft started to mount his attack. Ghandour continued to lead as the lead group grew from two karts to fifteen as the last lap began. Ghandour held on for the win ahead of Friend, who was able to sneak by Ashcroft. Reuvers gained 15 positions over the race to finish third, while Antoine Grisel and Vilmos Willisits rounded out the top five.
Heat C vs D would see Amaru Adrianzen and Valentino Manta in row one with Branislav and Nik Brecelj in row two. Row three was the home of Ben McCloughry (Ireland) and Alexis Baillargeon (Canada). Adrianzen and Manta maintained their starting position to hold on to first and second, but it was Martin Soltys who had jumped up to third from deeper in the field. Soltys took the lead on lap two with Rentka moving into second, making it a Slovak one–two. The top two maintained their positions through laps three and four as Wojciech Kapusta moved into third. Adrianzen fell outside the top five but by the end of lap six, had moved back into P4 with Baillargeon (Team Canada) moving into fifth. The Slovaks led by 1.2 seconds as they maintained their nose-to-tail positioning to pull away from the field as they entered the final lap. Soltys went on to take the win ahead of Kapusta and Rentka, Baillargeon and Kai Clarke. Following the heat, Kapusta and Clarke received penalties, moving them down the order with the new top five becoming Soltys, Rentka, Baillargeon, Vince Vanderhallen and Nik Brecelj.
Mini MAX
Heat Race 1 (A vs B and C vs. D) will be rerun on Thursday morning.
Senior MAX
Heat Race 1 (A vs B and C vs. D) moved to Thursday morning.
DD2 Master MAX
Heat Race 1 moved to Thursday morning.
DD2 MAX
Heat Race 1 (A vs B and C vs. D) moved to Thursday morning.
Today, we also welcomed the Chief Executive of the Bahrain International Circuit, Sheikh Salman, with whom Jen Wade recorded a great interview in the park in front of the Rotax Club. Ebrahim Akbar, the CIK-FIA President, also made a short stop at the RMC Grand Finals. Both interviews will be broadcast on our livestream in the coming days.
As of the changes of today’s time schedule, we will start the livestream tomorrow, earlier than announced: we will be live from 09:00 local time (GMT+3)