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 Shaikh Hasher to take the lead but it was short-lived as the Austrian pounced and retook the lead where he stayed until the chequered flag, winning by over eight seconds.
Second in a row
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 Shaikh. The championship now appears to be a mere formality.
"It was a good race for me," said Reichard. "I spent the previous two days learning the Kartdrome and following Shaikh Hasher. I knew I could do it as by the final my kart was well set-up for the circuit. It was a good week of racing and I am very happy to win in Dubai."
Shaikh Hasher was pushed back to third after Reichard's move as Scott Latham made an opportunist move to claim second. The two battled it out until the halfway mark when Shaikh Hasher passed, but by then the leader was nowhere in sight.
The two continued to circulate in tandem with Shaikh Hasher taking second place and Latham the third. Italy's Piero De Marchi finished fourth after a long duel with Iranian Sayed Farhad and UAE's Saeed Al Maherri.
Shaikh Hasher said: "It was disappointing because we had the pace to run with Reichard but I got into a battle with Latham which put us out of touch, with the leader, to challenge for the win. I must congratulate Kevin who is a very good driver and he deserves his victory."
In the Juniors Rotax Max class, Dubai-born Edward Jones powered to a well-deserved start to finish victory. Behind him Syrian Pierre Georges was the best of the rest.
