(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

The second day of on-track activities was completed on Tuesday at the 2023 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, held at the Bahrain International Karting Circuit. Following the opening day of practice on Monday, competitors returned for a second full day of hot track sessions around the 14-turn, 1.414km circuit. The schedule for the 384 drivers representing over 50 countries shifted on Tuesday, starting at 1pm and running into the night under the lights with the final session ending at 9:15pm local time. The Mini, Micro, E20 Senior and E20 Master divisions ran only two sessions on the day while the remaining classes ran three. Lucas Palacio led the way on the day for the nine drivers on Team USA, finishing his final session on the day second on the time sheets in Micro MAX.

Below is a breakdown of each driver and some comments on the Bahrain facility along with a recap of Tuesday on-track sessions.

Monday Report

Event Information

Time Schedule

Live Timing

DD2 – Birel ART (72 Drivers)

#451 – Race Liberante

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Palmdale, California
Qualified: Second Highest US Trophy Series Finisher
RMCGF Appearances: 0

Practice 3 (odd): 24th – 53.709 +0.796
Practice 4 (odd): 11th – 53.246 +0.453
Practice 5 (odd): 12th – 53.112 +0.373

“Today was chassis and engine tuning. We made massive strides forward on the kart and still have some to find on the engine tune. The track has gripped up an intense amount in one day unlike anything I’ve ever seen, so I’ve been adapting my driving, and making improvements each session on that. Feeling very good at the end of the night with direction forward for tomorrow.”

Senior MAX – Sodi Kart (72 Drivers)

#312 – Cooper O’Clair

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Qualified: Top US Trophy Series Finisher
RMCGF Appearances: 2 – 2021, 2022 (Junior Max)

Practice 3 (even): 9th – 53.935 +0.278
Practice 4 (even): 17th – 54.025 +0.459
Practice 5 (even): 34th – 54.608 +0.935

“Today started off really good. We tried a few things throughout the day that progressively were slower, but we still learned a lot and should be ready for tomorrow. I feel more comfortable than some others in the night session because I get to drive at night at home all the time, so being more confident definitely makes a difference.”

DD2 Masters – Charles Leclerc (36 Drivers)

#504 – Derek Wang

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Qualified: Canada Finals Champion
RMCGF Appearances: 11 – 2010, 2011 (DD2), 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 (DD2 Masters)

Practice 3: 18th – 54.011 +0.534
Practice 4: 18th – 53.821 +0.502
Practice 5: 34th – 54.579 +1.286

“Our carburetor issues continued into the day. We may have resolved it, then got into a big crash with someone merging into the track, which required a chassis change between sessions.”

#524 – Billy Cleavelin

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Shell Beach, California
Qualified: Top US Trophy Series Finisher
RMCGF Appearances: 2 – 2016, 2017 (DD2 Masters)

Practice 3: 32nd – 54.691 +1.214
Practice 4: 35th – 55.322 +2.003
Practice 5: 32nd – 54.504 +1.211

Junior MAX – Praga (72 Drivers)

#224 – Nixx Eggleston

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Qualified: Runner-up – US Trophy Final
RMCGF Appearances: 0

Practice 3 (even): 20th – 54.872 +0.340
Practice 4 (even): 6th – 54.886 +0.173
Practice 5 (even): 5th – 55.085 +0.155

“Today on track was good. We changed some things in the kart and put more focus on my driving too. The night session was good, ending up 5th in my group with maybe one clean lap and 17-18th overall.”

#257 – Giovanni Santora

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Qualified: Top US Trophy Series Finisher
RMCGF Appearances: 0

Practice 3 (odd): 12th – 56.436 +1.349
Practice 4 (odd): 30th – 55.359 +0.804
Practice 5 (odd): 25th – 55.305 +0.589

“Our sessions today were an improvement from yesterday. I am getting comfortable with the track. The night session was so much fun and added an awesome dynamic to an already incredible track.”

Mini MAX – Birel ART (72 Drivers)

#127 – Gage Korn

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Aurora, Colorado
Qualified: Runner-up – US Trophy Final
RMCGF Appearances: 2 – 2021, 2022 (Mini)

Practice 4 (odd): 22nd – 59.483 +0.822
Practice 5 (odd): 28th – 59.729 +0.819

“Adjustments to the kart were perfect. My track positioning was very poor. The last session, the group went out all together and it was an absolute disaster. Nobody wanted to lead the way, and you can’t put down fast laps in a group of three guys vs 10 karts in a row. Looking forward to the last practice session tomorrow to really get some draft laps in and see where we are before qualifying. Track position in going to be crucial for qualifying.”

#120 – Matteo Quinto

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Golden, Colorado
Qualified: Top US Trophy Series Finisher
RMCGF Appearances: 0

Practice 4 (even): 13th – 59.047 +0.456
Practice 5 (even): 17th – 59.398 +0.773

Micro MAX – Praga (36 Drivers)

#12 – Lucas Palacio

(Photo: Norito Hagiike/1Aim)

Hometown: Vienna, Virginia
Qualified: 1st – US Trophy Final
RMCGF Appearances: 0

Practice 4: 7th – 1:02.268 +0.407
Practice 5: 2nd – 1:02.040 +0.080

“It was a solid day. We knew we had good pace yesterday and today just got us in a better place on track to confirm. A little draft was all we needed to be up at the top of the order and didn’t have that yesterday at all. The night session was awesome. The kart is fast and we are going into tomorrow in a good place. We’ll keep working hard.”

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