Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa moved to the top of the standings in the DD2 category of the UAE Rotax Max Challenge as he claimed his second successive victory yesterday.
The 23-year-old Emirati overcame sliding off the track while trying to overtake championship rival Mohammed al Dhaheri to cross the line first in the fifth round of the series at Al Ain Raceway.
Sheikh Khalid battled with his compatriot al Dhaheri, the reigning champion, from the start, and they had exchanged the lead on several occasions before he misjudged his braking going into the final turn and he and al Dhaheri both ran off the circuit as a consequence.
Though he dropped to third, Sheikh Khalid was able to recover and passed Ashraf Raza to triumph. A gearbox problem forced al Dhaheri to retire.
Sheikh Khalid now leads the points standings by 11 points over al Dhaheri with seven rounds of the season to go.
In other action in Al Ain yesterday, Edward Jones dominated the Senior Max class to win his third consecutive race, finishing ahead of the series leader Maurits Knopje, who was second, and Sanad al Rawahi, who was third.
The Junior Max race ended in a close finish as 1.6 seconds covered the first five.
Patrick Hannah was the driver who came out on top of the near-blanket finish, ahead of Abdullah al Rawahi, the championship leader, and Piers Pakenham-Walsh.
Hussein Umid Ali triumphed in the Rental class.
Tom Bale made it four wins from four races in the Cadet class, with second place shared after Alain Bauwmans and Pasqual Pook remarkably crossed the line in the same time to cause a dead heat.
The next round of the UAE Rotax Max Challenge is at Dubai Kartdrome on January 21.
