Luke Varley enjoyed a successful day of qualifying for Team UAE at the 2015 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.
Competing in the DD2 class, Varley, the 2009 Max Champion, secured second place on a 72-driver grid that includes former Formula One driver Rubens Barichello.
After avoiding traffic in his qualifying lap, Varley has set himself up well for the heats and qualified just 200ths of a second behind pole-setter Ferenc Kancsar.
“Qualifying was a little bit tough in the beginning with a lot of drivers waiting for the ideal moment to go out and it took me a couple of laps to find my position on track, but when I did the kart felt really good and I managed to put in a really good lap so I am very happy,” Varley said.
“It’s going to be a long weekend of racing, we only have one set of tyres for the warm-up, the Heat races, the Pre-Final and Final. So it will be a case of playing it safe, managing tyres and see where we stand on Saturday afternoon for the final.”
Also in action for Team UAE in the DD2, Piers Pakenham-Walsh qualified in 40th place, 0.423 seconds off pole position.
Competing in the Max class, Tom Bale qualified in 20th while Team UAE colleague Patrick Hannah was 29th.
In the DD2 Masters category, Tony Hogg was the fastest Team UAE driver with the 56th best time, while Hussein Umid Ali came in 67th and Jonathan Mowatt 71st.
Taymour Kermanshahchi led the way for Team UAE im the Junior Max class, with Amna Al Qubaisi — the first Emirati female to take part in the Grand Finals — the next best placed for the team.
“To be honest so far the experience has been amazing,” Al Qubaisi said. “I am really enjoying the track layout, it is grippy and nice to drive. The standard of drivers is very high, but I am glad to say I was not last and I improve my times with each session as I am always learning. I am faster than seven other drivers which is a great achievement for me.”
TEAM UAE AT ROTAX MAX GRAND FINALS
Junior MAX — Amna Al Qubaisi
Junior MAX — Taymour Kermanshahchi
MAX — Tom Bale
MAX — Patrick Hannah
DD2 — Piers Pakenham-Walsh
DD2 — Luke Varley
DD2 Master — Jonathan Mowatt
DD2 Master — Tony Hogg
DD2 Master — Hussain Umid Ali
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @NatSportUAE
