In Portimao, Saturday afternoon started with the Mini Max Final for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in very nice weather with a temperature of 20°. Lebanese driver Christopher El Feghali had the highest score and shared the first row of the grid with Briton Harry Bartle ahead of another Briton Jacob Ashcroft and Frenchman Thomas Pradier on the second row.
El Feghali was leading at the start against Ashcroft, Sebastian Minns (GBR) was 3rd ahead of Tom Strele (LVA) and Gage Korn. Bartle was 6th and Pradier 8th followed by Louis Baziret (FRA). Bartle started to make up ground, followed by Pradier and Baziret. One could imagine a sort of agreement between the two frontrunners to distance themselves from their opponents before they had to fight it out between them. Bartle felt slowed down by Minns and hurriedly passed him for 3rd place, 9 tenths behind the leading duo. Baziret set the fastest time and passed Pradier for 5th at the halfway point. Minns then blocked an attempt by Baziret who dropped back to 8th. Bartle and Minns worked together to catch El Feghali and Ashcroft. The French pair of Pradier / Baziret followed the same pattern of cooperation to move up to 5th and 6th ahead of Strele. The strategy changed as the finish approached. El Feghali started to defend his 1st position while Ashcroft was watching Bartle’s return behind him. The last lap was very tactical in the leading trio. El Feghali reached his goal by winning the Final after clear dominance. Ashcroft was 2nd at 0,127″, Bartle 3rd at 4 tenths followed by Minns. Baziret and Pradier finished wheel to wheel in 5th and 6th place. Aloïs Girardet (FRA) could be proud of the fact that he climbed 10 places to 21st.
Provisional results pending publication of the final rankings.
Info Kartcom with Kartlink / Photo © KSP