After an unforgettable evening yesterday, the 2025 RMC Grand Finals are now in full swing. We officially opened the event with the traditional Welcome Party in the Formula 1 Paddock of the Bahrain International Circuit, where drivers, mechanics, teams, families, and the entire Rotax crew came together to celebrate the start of this exciting week. With live traditional music, great food, and a fantastic atmosphere, it was the perfect way to kick off the Grand Finals.
Today the focus shifted to the track as the first Non-Qualifying Practices got underway for all categories. Spirits were high as drivers headed out for their maiden sessions on this impressive circuit, filling the paddock with energy and anticipation.
Additionally, the Rotax E10 E-Kart joined the NQ-Practice sessions in Mini MAX – one kart in each session – and the drivers were truly excited by the performance of the E10. More details and insights from today’s sessions can be found in the race report below.
Non-Qualifying Practice
E20 Senior
Germany’s Jakobs Jannik led the first Non-Qualifying Practice for the E20 Senior category with a time of 55.749, followed by Spaniard Raul Vargas. Fellow German driver Niklas Cassarino was third on the time sheets, just ahead of Hungary’s Akos Madaras and local favorite Vedant Menon from Bahrain.
Jannik continued his presence at the front of the field for Non-Qualifying Practice 2, outpacing Levant Simon (Hungary) by .007 with a lap time of 55.644. Anna Benedek (Hungary) slotted into the third position ahead of Vedant Menon (Bahrain) and Vargas.
Jannik went three-for-three on the day and asserted himself as the driver to beat in E20 Senior, leading all three Non-Qualifying Practice sessions. Simon Levente ended the day as the best of the rest, .230 behind Jannik, as Maximo Castro (Uruguay) was third. Anna Benedek fell one position from session two to session three to finish the day fourth, just ahead of Akos Madaras (Hungary).
E20 Master
The E20 Master class has three Argentinian drivers in the top-five at the conclusion of Non-Qualifying Practice 1, but they all trailed UAE’s Maurits Knopjes, who set the pace at a 56.627. Julian Falivene (Argentina) led Team Brazil’s Adriano Amaral, with Argentina locking down the fourth and fifth place positions at the hands of Emiliano Parisi and Javier Fernandez.
Knopjes led Non-Qualifying Practice 2, pacing three tenths of a second quicker than his Practice 1 time. Adriano Amaral improved the running order to clock the second fastest lap of the session, just ahead of Colombia’s Jorge Matos. Julian Falivene was once again in the top-five in fourth, and Javier Fernandez rounded out the top-five.
Jorge Matos found his way to the top of the time charts in Non-Qualifying Practice 3 as he pipped Julian Falivene by .068 to close out the first on track day of action. Emiliano Parisi put two Argentines in the top-three, with Maurits Knopjes and Adriano Amaral clocking the fourth and fifth quickest times of the session.
Micro MAX
36 Micro MAX competitors hit the track Monday morning for their first session of the weekend as the session was controlled by Great Britain, locking out the first two positions. Albert Pharoah led the way with a 1:01.980, a scant .015 ahead of Benediktas Masiokas. South African driver Luhan Louis Ste De Wet was third on the charts ahead of Team Japan’s Naoshige Inose and Colombia’s Dominic Vera Roe.
The #5 entry of Jan Wozniak (Poland) topped the Micro MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 2 time charts, besting the 36-driver field by more than two tenths of a second. Albert Pharoah continued his presence at the front of the field after leading Practice 1, with the second fastest lap in Practice 2. Lev Khovanskii (Kyrgyzstan) clocked the third quickest time of the session ahead of Dhian Singh Pahal (Great Britain) and Team Canada’s Jayden Francisco.
Lev Khovanskii elevated himself to the top of the Non-Qualifying Practice 3 time sheets in Micro MAX by the slimmest of margins, beating Brit Albert Pharoah by .002 when the checkered flag flew. Great Britain held positions two, three, and four on the time sheets, with Pharaoh just ahead of Benediktas Masiokas and Charlie Page. Team Canada’s Oliver Aupry rounding out the top-five.
Three Great Britain drivers occupied the top-three positions in the even-numbered session, led by Ryan White, followed by Joshua Cooke and Emerson Macandrew-Uren. Enzo Digennaro was the fourth fastest driver for the second session in a row, beating another Brit, Alfie Ward, who was fifth. The top-five drivers were separated by .069.
Mini MAX
The first Mini Max Non-Qualifying Practice 1 for the odd-numbered drivers was paced by Alfie Mair (Great Britain), followed closely by fellow countryman Arthur Pharoah. Oliver Spencer from the UAE was third on the charts, ahead of India’s Rivaan Dev Preetham and Kyrgyzstan’s Vladimir Gugo, as the top-five were separated by .228.
With the track evolving, drivers from the Non-Qualifying Practice 1 even-numbered group were slightly faster overall, led by Austrian Mathias Drexler with a time of 58.932. Denmark’s Andres Kjellerup was close behind, .053 in arrears, but ahead of the British pilot of Lucien Smith. Team USA’s Enzo Digennaro clocked the fourth fastest lap of the session with Team UK’s Emerson Macandrew-Uren in fifth.
Alfie Mair (Great Britain) was the driver to beat in Non-Qualifying Practice 2 for Mini MAX odd numbers as he scored a lap time of 58.773, .138 quicker than Korean driver Isaac Yoon in second. Brodi Cooper Dowling from South Africa was third quickest, with Pharoah back in the top-five in P4. Great Britain put a trio of drivers inside the top-five as Riley Murro was fifth.
Oliver Spencer rose to the top of the time charts in Non-Qualifying Practice 3 for the Mini MAX drivers as the top-five were once again separated by less than .125 of a second. Great Britain had two drivers in the top-five, with Riley Murro second and Alfie Mair fourth, sandwiching the Japanese pilot of Kaito Lloyd. Rivaan Dev Preetham rounded out the top-five.
It was a Great Britain lockout of the top-five in the even-numbered session as Emerson Macandrew-Uren led Tom Read, Alfie Ward, Joshua Cooke, and Lucien Smith, as in the first group, they were only separated by less than two-tenths of a second.
Junior MAX
The top-five drivers in Junior MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 1 were separated by only .197 but led by Majus Mazinas (Lithuania) with a lap time of 54.998. Following close behind was the #259 entrant of Branislav Rentka (Slovakia) and Team France’s Gabriel Canal. Thailand’s Panu Stienmonkon clocked the fourth fastest lap of the session, .048 ahead of Team Argentina’s Thiago Palotini.
Even-numbered drivers pipped the overall quick time of Non-Qualifying Practice 1 as Latvia’s Rodrigo Kakers turned a lap of 54.979 to take top honors for the first Junior MAX on track session. Team Japan’s Taigen Sakano was second on the time sheets, ahead of UAE’s Nathan Kappan in third, Team Japan’s Shun Sekiguchi in fourth, and Jeremy Reuvers (Team Spain), who rounded out the top-five.
Mazinas was two-for-two in Non-Qualifying Practice sessions, topping the results page ahead of Great Britain’s Albert Friend. Taiwan’s Eason Tseng claimed the third position ahead of Branislav Rentka (Slovakia) and Jacob Ashcroft (Great Britain).
Jeremy Reuvers found his way to the top of the time charts during the second session for the even-numbered drivers followed closely by Shun Sekiguchi, just .014 behind. Team Canada had Alexis Baillargeon inside the top-five in the third position, .005 ahead of Team France driver Owen Baroni and .015 ahead of Denmark’s Kristian Sejersen.
Senior MAX
It was Team France that led the way in Senior MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 1 at the hands of Tom Langlois with a lap time of 53.927. Great Britain’s Sean Butcher was close behind with a 53.979 in second, ahead of Devyan Roest (Netherlands) in P3. Team USA’s Charlie Smith clocked the fourth fastest lap of the session, .05 ahead of Jace Matthews from Australia.
A red flag was displayed with just over four minutes to go in Senior MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 1 for the even-numbered competitors, and at the time, Nolan Lemeray (France) was at the top of the time sheets with a 54.199. Omar Ghannoum (UAE) was classified second with Team USA’s Cooper Oclair in the third position. Santeri Laitonen (Finland) and Christos Oikonomou (Greece) rounded out the top-five.
Butcher led the second practice for the odd-numbered drivers to put another Great Britain flag at the top of the charts as he was just a tenth of a second quicker than Team USA’s Charlie Smith. South Africa saw Charl Michael Visser finish third with Team France, and Great Britain rounded out the top-five with drivers Mehdi Lassoued and Matthew Higgins.
Macauley Bishop (Great Britain) and Martin Lichner (Slovakia) led the way for the even-numbered drivers in Non-Qualifying Practice 2 as the pair were separated on the time charts by .078. Great Britain saw another driver inside the top-five with Harry Bartle third quickest ahead of UAE’s Omar Ghannoum and Slovenia’s Nik Trobec.
DD2 Master MAX
Perennial front-runner Xen De Ruwe (Slovenia) led the way in DD2 Master MAX Practice 1, picking up where he left off in Italy just over one year ago. Jannik Nielsen (Denmark) looks to be a driver that can put up a fight to De Ruwe, taking P2 on the charts, .068 behind De Ruwe. Tankevicius Martynas (Lithuania) finished the first on track session third with Team France’s Nicolas Picot fourth and Jonatan Morin (Sweden) in the fifth position.
Team France and Nicolas Picot rocketed their way to the front of Non-Qualifying Practice 2 for DD2 Master MAX, topping the charts over Martynas Tankevicius of Lithuania by .024. Xen De Ruwe fell to fourth on the time sheets behind Dmitrii Kofanov (Kyrgyzstan) but just ahead of Mat Kinsman (New Zealand).
DD2 MAX
The DD2 MAX Non-Qualifying Practice 1 odd-numbered drivers produced the tightest results of the first round of on-track sessions, with the top-five separated by only .136. Leading the charge was Jakub Bezel (Czechia), who was .028 ahead of Dawid Maslakiewicz (Poland), Sebastian Boyd (South Africa), Leonardo Baccaglini (Italy), and Harrison Hoey (Australia).
Antonie Barbaroux (France) was atop of the heap for the even-numbered competitors with a blistering lap of 53.322, just .059 ahead of Australian driver Josh Bethune (New Zealand). Sem Knopjes (Netherlands) was third after the session, with Edgars Vilcans (Latvia) and Federico Rossi (Italy) rounding out the top-five.
Team Germany and Lenn Nijs were the quickest of the second and final DD2 MAX practice session for the odd-numbered drivers, with South Africa’s Sebastian Boyd closing in the second position. Axel Saarniala was .134 behind in the third position but .015 ahead of the fourth-place finisher of Jakub Bezel and .029 of Harrison Hoey in fifth.
Edgars Vilcans improved in the even-numbered session, moving to the top of the time sheets with a lap time of 52.962. Sem Knopjes, third in the first practice round, was second in session two, ahead of Antonie Barbaroux, who topped the charts in session one. Maxim Shchurko (Lithuania) and Rasmus Vendelbo (Denmark) rounded out the top-four.
We’re coming back tomorrow with the next NQ-Practice sessions starting with Junior MAX at 13:45 local time (GMT+3), and we’llbe having the first sessions under floodlight tomorrow evening with the NQ-Practices 4 and 5.
Tomorrow, the next Non-Qualifying Practices begin with Junior MAX at 13:45.