Suspense in the desert of Bahrain

  • gb
05.11.12
There has never been a Karting World Championship held in the Middle-East.

And neither has a major CIK-FIA international calendar event been organised at night under spotlights. It is therefore two new sensations that the competitors entered in the CIK-FIA U18 World Championship and Academy Trophy will experience from 8 to 10 November in Bahrain. And it is also in this context that two still very open championships will be settled. The guarantee of suspenseful racing!

Just like Formula One and MotoGP, Karting will discover the joys of a competition at night. Perfectly lit, the international circuit of Bahrain built in the Sakhir desert will indeed be the setting of the final round of the U18 World Championship (for Drivers under 18 years old). It is on Saturday 10 November at 21h10 that the start of a decisive Final will be given. After the Braga and Angerville events no Driver has indeed managed to take a definitive advantage in this competition in which all the participants utilise the same engine, placed at their disposal free of charge by the FIM company.
 
Outrageously domineering in Portugal, Britain’s Henry Easthope (Sodi) suffered in France the supremacy of the Frenchman Anthoine Hubert (FK). Separated by only 5 points both Drivers will therefore arrive in Bahrain with a slight mathematical advance. But, in their immediate wake, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (ART GP, 11 points behind Easthope) and the Briton Ricky Collard (ART GP, 16 points behind) can also foster quite legitimate ambitions.
 
Limiting the title race to these four young Drivers would however be a mistake. With a maximum of 75 points still at stake, several outsiders could benefit from the glorious uncertainty of sport to come from nowhere and eventually don the world crown. The Dane Martin Mortensen (FK), the Australian Joseph Mawson (Top Kart), Italy’s Federico Savona (Top Kart), the title holder Matthew Graham (Zanardi) as well as France’s Hubert Petit (Sodi) and the Brit Ben Barnicoat (ART GP) all showed at the beginning of the season that they could compete at the front. And although they may have somewhat lacked success they want – as a minimum – to finish the year with a flourish. 
 
As was already the case for the final of the CIK-FIA World Championship organised at Macau, a live coverage of the event will be ensured on the www.cikfia.tv website. It will then be possible to see from everywhere in the world live and in full the Prefinals and the Final of the U18 World Championship, but also the two Races of the Academy Trophy. Not to be missed!