Austrian defeats local hero in karting championship

Dubai: Austrian Kevin Reichard played the waiting game to perfection to win the Senior Rotax Max Final race of the second round of the Middle East Karting Championship (MEKC) at the Kartdrome at the Dubai Autodrome on Saturday.

After two opening days of dominance by local hero Shaikh Hasher Al Maktoum, the Austrian ace timed his attack to perfection by peaking in the pre-final and stamped his authority with a commanding drive to victory in the final.

Starting from pole position Reichard miscued the start allowing Al Makotum to take the lead but it was short-lived as the Austrian pounced and retook the lead where he stayed until the chequered flag dropped, winning by over 8 seconds.

The victory is his second in a row, in the series, as last month he won the first round of the MEKC at Sharm Al Sheikh – the championship now appears to be a mere formality for the Austrian.

Reichard said of his victory, “It was a good race for me. I spent the previous two days learning the Kartdrome and following Sheikh Hasher. I knew I could do it as by the Final my kart was well setup for the circuit. It was a good week of racing and I am very happy to win in Dubai.''

Al Maktoum was demoted to third after Reichard's move as Scott Latham made an opportunist move to claim second Italy's Piero De Marchi finished fourth after a race long duel with Iranian Sayed Farhad and UAE's Saeed Al Maherri.

The final round of the MEKC is scheduled to take place in Sharm Al Sheikh in April.