Latest news with #karting
Arab News
6 days ago
- Sport
- Arab News
UAE's teenage karting star Omar Ghannoum sets sights after statement victories
DUBAI: A teenage UAE racing star is making a mark at global level as he seeks to achieve his lifelong ambition of competing in the glitz-and-glamor world of Formula One. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Currently pitting his wits against some of the world's best karting drivers, 17-year-old Omar Ghannoum won the recent third round of the Rotax European Championship, which took place in Belgium. Ghannoum produced a potentially career-defining performance in Genk to finish ahead of closest challengers Macauley Bishop and Lewis Goff, who took second and third spots on the podium respectively. It was a hugely impressive display by Ghannoum, and a crucial next step on a journey to what he hopes will be the upper echelons of global racing. 'It was the best moment of my life crossing the finish line in first place, and it is a huge confidence boost going into the next steps of my motorsport career,' the teenager explained. His victory in Belgium followed another eye-catching win in April when Ghannoum emerged triumphant at the UAE National Rotax Senior Championship, held on the Al-Ain Raceway International Kart Circuit. What made that particular success all the more impressive was the fact he came out on top in the largest, and most competitive, field in Middle East karting history, with over 75 racers battling it out for glory, subsequently securing his spot at the Rotax Grand Finals, scheduled for Bahrain later this year. 'That win fit perfectly into my journey as I had put in so much work to improve mentally and physically, and obviously on track too,' he said. 'I used the race as a warm-up for getting used to the most difficult karting grid in the world, which I will have to navigate at the Grand Finals in Bahrain.' Ghannoum is currently thriving in a sport in which he seemed destined to make an impact from a very early age. His racing career began in the UAE, at Dubai Kartdrome, when he was just 14, although the wheels had been set in motion slightly earlier. 'I have always been a fan of racing cars, but on my 14th birthday I was given the opportunity to drive a professional race kart in America for the first time,' he explained. 'That was the moment when I realized that the sport is perfectly suited for me and my passion for speed and competition.' Naturally, as well as enjoying the highs, Ghannoum has also had to endure some lows in the early part of his career. However, 2025 has been an exceptional year so far, and has the potential to become even better as he sets his sights on November's Grand Finals. 'Competing in the Grand Finals, and being the only one waving the UAE flag in the hardest category, is an honor, and I wouldn't want it to go to waste,' said Ghannoum. 'To win that race would be an amazing step forward as it would be one of my last karting races, and I would then be setting my sights on cars. 'It would be an additional confidence boost, alongside the win at the European Championship.' While immediate success is the obvious priority, Ghannoum is fully focused on what he wants to achieve in the long term. 'My ambitions are to carry the momentum of winning against the hardest grid in world karting in the senior category, into car racing, whether that's GT Racing or Formula 4,' he said. 'My long-term goal is to compete in F1 or the Hypercar category in WEC (World Endurance Championship).' Given Ghannoum's impressive achievements to date, few would bet against him meeting, and even surpassing, those objectives.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
We found the guy whose record Ollie Bearman stole. He already got it back!
Ollie Bearman may need to reconsider his summer break plans again – to come back to the small Swedish town of Varberg, where he already spent a few days ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. Back then, his family vacation derailed after Bearman discovered a local karting track – a typical rental go-kart place you'd expect to find on the outskirts of a little town – next to the place he was staying at. The joking suggestion from his family members that he'd need to beat the lap record turned into a three-day mission, which involved – according to the F1 driver himself – taking fuel off the go-kart, cooling the engine with a leaf blower, taking some bodywork off to save weight, and even someone slipstreaming him on the straight – until he finally broke the previous record. 'He should be in F1!' Bearman laughed, talking to journalists in Spa, about the then-anonymous-to-him driver who held the record for Varbergs Gokart before Ollie turned up. Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team That guy, Elton Zevenwacht, a 23-year-old local, wasn't in town when the F1 driver let his obsession ruin a family holiday. But the news reached him quickly. 'I had no idea – until Christian Andersen, the owner of the track, sent me a photo of Oliver and the lap record board,' he laughed, as reached out to him while he was on his way back to Varbergs Gokart. 'I was away that week, so I couldn't come and try to beat it right away. But I'm going to try to beat it tonight.' And beat it he did. While Bearman was busy taking P7 in the Belgian GP's sprint qualifying, Zevenwacht was heading back to his local karting track. Read Also: Why Oliver Bearman spent his Swedish vacation grinding out a karting lap record A couple of weeks ago, Bearman managed to become the first driver to break the 29-second mark, setting a time of 28.97s during his vacation – shaving a tenth off the previous lap record – and Zevenwacht responded on Friday night with 28.95s. 'I'm a competitive person, too,' laughed the Swede. 'But it was just really fun for me to hear that Ollie came to the track and had to work hard for the record. And with all these tactics – like cooling the engine and changing tires and stuff. But I respect that! I have no bad feelings or anything. It's just really, really cool that Ollie had to work for the lap record.' He also took his chance to respond to some of Bearman's light-hearted claims. While speaking to the media on Thursday, the Brit suggested that the previous lap record holder must weigh '20 kilos' or that the time was set in more favorable conditions in the spring – 'when it's like minus 20 there'. 'That's how he did it, I think. That's my excuse!' Bearman quipped. 'Christian called me when he saw your article,' Zevenwacht told 'So, it was really fun to read.' 'It's amazing, really. I follow Formula 1 every weekend – from like 2017 – and I haven't missed a race on TV since. And I was also following Ollie from when he first jumped in for Carlos Sainz. 'I'm just a Formula 1 fan. So it was really, really cool to find out that I had the chance to kind of compete with him on the same track. And also that he had to work for the lap time! It's a very cool feeling.' 'But when I set the lap record last time, it was in a so-called 'Le Mans race', where we raced two hours. And I think I was like one and a half hour in, and then I got the record. I wasn't going for it. It was a 29.07, I think, and it was with eight other karts on track. And I just got the lap time. It was in August, in similar conditions. 'And I can add to that – I read that he also said like, 'he should be in F1 or he's 20 kilograms' – my weight is like 60 to 65 kilos. So I'm not 20 kilograms!' Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team Zevenwacht's undeniable advantage is that he, of course, knows every inch of his local track – yet, he's never raced competitively in his life. Having his own business, which offers local homeowners exterior and roof cleaning, he occasionally shows up at the local kart track. 'When I have the time, I try to visit Christian and do some laps. I haven't raced in any competitive category. The only thing I've raced in is rental cars. But I've always had a car interest and always wanted to race competitively in karting. But I never had the chance.' Such a chance may never occur for Zevenwacht, but there aren't many amateur go-kart drivers who can claim to have beaten an F1 driver's record at any given track. Zevenwacht now can. Until, of course, Bearman – now inevitably – shows up in Varberg again… To read more articles visit our website.
Khaleej Times
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
UAE's rising star Omar Ghannoum sets sights on motorsport glory
A teenage UAE racing star is making his mark on a global level as he seeks to achieve his lifelong ambition of competing in the glitz-and-glamour-fuelled world of Formula 1. Currently pitting his wits against some of the world's best karting drivers, 17-year-old Omar Ghannoum won the recent third round of the Rotax European Championship, which took place in Belgium. Ghannoum, who is the first driver to represent the UAE in karting competitions of such magnitude, produced a potentially career-defining performance in Genk to finish ahead of closest challengers Macauley Bishop and Lewis Goff, who took second and third spots on the podium respectively. It was a hugely impressive display by Ghannoum, and a crucial next step on a journey to what he hopes will be the upper echelons of global racing. 'It was the best moment of my life crossing the finish line in first place, and it is a huge confidence boost going into the next steps of my Motorsport career,' the teenager explained. His victory in Belgium followed another eye-catching win in April when Ghannoum emerged triumphant at the UAE National Rotax Senior Championship, held on the Al Ain Raceway International Kart Circuit. What made that particular success all the more impressive was the fact he came out on top in the largest, and most competitive, field in Middle East karting history, with over 75 racers battling it out for glory, subsequently securing his spot at the Rotax Grand Finals, scheduled for Bahrain later this year. 'That win fit perfectly into my journey as I had put in so much work to improve mentally and physically, and obviously on track too,' he said. 'I used the race as a warm-up for getting used to the most difficult karting grid in the world, which I will have to navigate at the Grand Finals in Bahrain.' Ghannoum is currently thriving in a sport he seemed destined to make an impact in from a very early age. His racing career began in the UAE, at Dubai Kartdrome, when he was just 14, although the wheels had been set in motion slightly earlier. 'I have always been a fan of racing cars, but on my 14th birthday I was given the opportunity to drive a professional race kart in America for the first time,' he explained. 'That was the moment when I realised that the sport is perfectly suited for myself and my passion for speed and competition.' Naturally, as well as enjoying the highs, Ghannoum has also had to endure some lows in the early part of his career. However, 2025 has been a brilliant year so far, and with the potential to become even better as he sets his sights on November's Grand Finals. 'Competing in the Grand Finals and being the only one waving the UAE flag in the hardest category, is an honour, and I wouldn't want it to go to waste,' said Ghannoum. 'To win that race would be an amazing step forward as it would be one of my last karting races, and I would then be setting my sights on the cars route. 'It would be an additional confidence boost, alongside the win at the European Championships.' While immediate success is the obvious priority, Ghannoum is fully focused on what he wants to achieve long-term. 'My ambitions are to carry the momentum of winning against the hardest grid in world karting in the senior category, into car racing, whether that's GT Racing of Formula 4,' he said. 'My long-term goal is to compete in Formula 1 or the Hypercar category in WEC (World Endurance Championship).' Given Ghannoum's impressive achievements to date, few would bet against him meeting, and even surpassing, those objectives.
The Herald
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
Outstanding performance from Jack Moore in Germany
Young local karting sensation Jack Moore enjoyed a hard-fought, character-building weekend in the second round of the FIA European Karting Championship in Mülsen at the Motorsport Arena-E Circuit, situated between the major German cities of Dresden and Leipzig. The series that caters for drivers between the ages of 12 and 14 uses the 'arrive and drive' principle among the 49 competitors from around the globe, all using identical karts with engines drawn from a motor-pool and then swapped between drivers for the duration of the event. Moore had a brilliant Saturday, finishing in second place in the first qualifying heat race, including the fastest lap time, and then fourth place in the second qualifier and fifth in the third qualifier, thereby marching into the Sunday finals with his confidence high. Unfortunately, the engine he drew for the final day was not quite as good as the Saturday engine, but Moore still managed to put in a scintillating performance running in the top three for the majority of the 20-lap final using a great display of race-craft and defensive driving. With four laps to go, the charging pack behind Moore launched their attack, forcing him to run wide off the track and drop down to 11th position, from where he fought back to ninth place overall when the chequered flag came out. Fellow South African Emma-Rose Dowling finished in 25th place out of the 36 karts that qualified for the final. The FIA Karting Academy European Championship Trophy takes place over three rounds, with the next and final round being held in Italy from September 25-28. The Herald
South China Morning Post
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong karting champion overcomes UK crash to chase F1 dream
About a year ago, Katrina Ee had a scary crash. This incident occurred while the Hong Kong-Malaysian karting champion was competing in the United Kingdom. '[The kart] flipped on the track. I landed on the back of my shoulder, and I broke the bone,' said Katrina, 15. The young racer had to stop karting for about eight weeks. She suffered a broken shoulder. But Katrina was drawn to the sport despite the dangers. In the last three years, she has become a regional karting champion. Living her dream Katrina started karting at the age of seven when she visited a track in Malaysia. She loved 'the thrill, the speed' of the sport. 'I really enjoyed all of that competitiveness and being fearless,' she said. Katrina grew up in Hong Kong, where the karting community is small. She moved to Malaysia at the age of 10 to pursue a career in the sport. She has also stopped going to a traditional school. Last academic year, she joined Minerva Virtual Academy, an online international school for athletes. 'It helps me balance my classes,' she said. She added that she could complete her schoolwork at her own pace. The hard work and sacrifices have paid off for Katrina, who has won several junior Asian titles since the age of 12. She said these wins were some of her proudest moments. Racing as a girl Another reason she feels so motivated to improve as a racer is to 'beat the boys'. 'It's just really nice to break boundaries as a driver and especially as a girl,' she said. Most athletes in karting are boys. Katrina wants to make a statement and showcase her capabilities as a female racer. But she has faced some resistance. 'I've had a few times where I was on track, and I was getting pushed off by the boys,' she said. 'It makes me more motivated to push them off.' Katrina does not let negative experiences bring her down. 'Gender doesn't really matter ... You can't really compare or care about the people around you,' the young champion said. Katrina is proud to represent Malaysia as a female driver. More young women and girls are participating in karting. She said she felt the sport was becoming much more 'supported by women'. Katrina hopes to become a successful Formula One driver one day. Until then, she will continue to show her strength and work ethic.
