WEDNESDAY QUALIFYING & HEATS
D
ubai schoolboy Jamie Day starred for Team
UAE in the first Qualifying Heat races of the
2017 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals on
Wednesday, while Keanu Al Azhari delivered another
strong performance on Wednesday.
It was the youngsters in the team that rose to the
occasion on a day that included Qualifying Practice
and the first Qualifying Heat races for all the classes,
signalling the start of the serious part of the contest,
after two days of practice.
Starting from third Day was quick to tag on to the
pace setter as the two pulled away from the chasing
pack, circulating nose-to-tail at the front of the field.
In the final stages of the eight lap race, after
shrewdly stalking the early leader, Day pounced to
claim victory in the first heat race and with it bag
maximum points, setting himself up as the man to
beat in the remaining two Heat races to be run on
Thursday.
In the same race Theo Kekati had his best
showing of the week so far, finishing 11th after a race
long battle with a dozen drivers.
In the Micro MAX class Keanu Al Azhari started
sixth and within a couple of laps had fought his way
to third place, with the two leaders ahead in the
distance. But in the closing stages he was swamped
by several drivers and had to take avoiding action on
to the sand. This cost him time but he recovered well
to finish seventh.
Positions in the heats for the rest of Team UAE
were: Liam Crystal (Junior MAX) 26th; Lachlan
Robinson (Junior MAX) 15th; Amna Al Qubaisi 23rd;
Khalid Al Seai (Senior MAX) 30th; Kyle Blockley
(DD2 Masters) 18th; Anthony Hogg (DD2 Masters)
35th; Kevin Day (DD2 Masters) 35th; Lucas
Petersson (DD2) 29th; Jakob Robinson (DD2) 33rd;
Abdullah Al Rawahi (DD2) 34th.