Junior Max opened the proceedings of the 2015 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at Portimao. The first qualifying heat for group AB saw a very restless first lap punctuated by numerous skirmishes. Jack McCarthy and Jules Bollier went off and could only finish 17th and 18th, while the poleman Roope Ropanen won ahead of Scott Symons and Manuel Sulaiman. Caio Collet was ranked only 26th, Rokas Bacisuka 29th, Julien Apotheloz 31st and Sting Ray Robb 32nd. David Beaumann drove a nice race, 13th at the finish.
Junior Heat 2 C-D
The start of the second heat turned out much calmer than the last. Harrison Thomas won against Trenton Estep followed in 3rd position by Jakub Bezel, himself hounded by Karl Leesmaa while Florian Venturi, the leader early in the race, was ranked 5th.
Senior Heat 1 A-B
The first Senior heat saw some victims. The race remained closely fought to the finish. Berkay Besler took the lead with two laps to go, after domination by Edward Brand. Lucas Selliken beat Christopher Dreyspring for 2nd place, and Brand finished 4th ahead of Alex. Arnaud Sarrazin came back to 16th position, Nicolas Duchateau 18th, and Emmanuel Reviriault struggled to 25th after the crashes at the start.
Senior Heat 2 C-D
A very close race from start to finish, won by Luc Willemse against Pierce Lehane. Hirotaka Sasaki finally took 3rd place ahead of Kyle Kirkwood. There was a noteworthy ascent from Dave Blom in 7th place while one of the leaders at the race start, Sten Piirimaegi, dropped out after four laps. Rinus Van Kalmthout had retired on the first lap.
DD2 Masters Heat 1 A-B
There was a spectacular crash at the fast right after the start, and six drivers delayed already. The Masters were as lively as the Juniors. Derek Wang led the race, but Fernando Guzzi beat him on the last lap. Michael Stephen retained the advantage of 3rd place ahead of Luis Schiavo and Ryan Urban. Laurent Aubin kept the pace in 18th position.
DD2 Masters Heat 2 D-C
Tomokazu Kawase, Antti Ollikainen and Robert Schluenssen quickly outdistanced the pack, but Kawase gave up after halfway. Ollikainen won ahead of Schluenssen and Scott Campbell recovered 3rd place against Maximiliano Orueta and Renato Russo. Left far behind, Christophe Adams and Igor Mukhin came back to 8th and 11th while Charly Hipp managed to return to 19th place following a belated start in last position.
DD2 Heat 1 A-B
Christian Sorensen and Natalia Balbo were among the drivers eliminated on the first lap in a clash in the end of the straight. Rubens Barrichello retired after two laps. Ferenc Kancsar came out victorious from his duel with Luke Varley and Andreas Backman resisted Mads Thomsen for 3rd position, with Oriol Dalmau Caballero finishing 5th.
DD2 Heat 2 D-C
The duel between Luka Kamali and Lukasz Bartoszuk monopolized attention in the lead of the race while Bradley Liebenberg confronted Martins Steinerts in the chasing pack. Bartoszuk won narrowly against Kamali, Steinerts finished 3rd, Liebenberg 4th and Pedro Pinto 5th. Alexandre Anstett performed a great recovery to 13th position.
Info Kartcom / © Photos KSP