Team UAE driver Luke Varley and Oman based brothers, Sanad and Abdullah Al Rawahi, starred on qualifying day for the 2015 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals on Wednesday.
However, their teammates end-ured mixed fortunes on an action packed day at Kartodromo Internacional Algarve, in southern Portugal.
Varley, the 2009 MAX Champion, used all of his experience to secure second place on the DD2 grid which includes former Brazilian Formula 1 driver and grand prix winner Rubens Barrichello among the 72 DD2 champions from around the world.
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Varley managed to avoid the traffic on his flying lap, to put down a marker that sets him up well for the all important heat races. In the end he was a mere three hundredths of a second down on the pole winner Ferenc Kancsar from Hungary.
Varley said: “Qualifying was a little bit tough in the beginning with a lot of drivers waiting for the ideal moment to go out.
“It took me a couple of laps to find my position on track, but when I did the kart felt really good and I managed to put in a really good lap so I am very happy.”
Varley, who is also team manager of the Daman Speed Academy, added: “It’s going to be a long weekend of racing, we only have one set of tyres for the warm-up, the Heat races, the Pre-Final and Final.
“It will be a case of playing it safe, managing tyres and see where we stand on Saturday afternoon for the Final.”
Sanad Al Rawahi impressed with a flurry of strong laps despite being mixed up in traffic to finish third in his session which was good enough for tenth overall, with almost the entire field separated by just over a second.
Piers Pakenham-Walsh was less fortunate and was 40th in the rankings, albeit only 0.423 of a second off the pole position time.
In the MAX class Abdullah Al Rawahi was constantly at the sharp end on the timing screens and in the end secured the sixth best time, in the field of 72 of the world’s best Rotax MAX drivers.
Tom Bale was 20th after enduring an action packed session which saw him end up with a bent axle, as Patrick Hannah finished 29th overall in a class that saw the top 63 setting times within a second of one another.
Tony Hogg was the top DD2 Masters driver from Team UAE with the 56th best time, followed by Hussein Umid Ali 67th and Jonathan
Mowatt was 71st.
Taymour Kermanshahchi was fastest of Team UAE’s Junior MAX drivers, with Grand Finals rookie Amna Al Qubaisi next best and the only female driver in the junior category
