This weekend saw the final 2 rounds of the 2011 Lebanese karting championship. The championship saw some ups and downs this season and can considerably be considered to have ended on some disappointments but with lots of other positives. The biggest negative of the all would be the “Micro” which saw only one race this year in round 1. The lack of races has no one to blame especially with the lack of contestants. The race was won by Kevin Kanaan who didn’t get the chance to continue his charge in other races. Round 1 in general was very impressive despite the small number of contestants. We saw 3 excellent races in the Micro – Mini – Junior categories and promised to deliver more excitement later in the championship. This was not the case.
Rounds 2 and 3 saw the start of the disappointment. They were scheduled to take place at the same day and both the Micro and Mini categories had their races cancelled due to the lack of drivers. The minimum required number of drivers to start a race is 5 and this number was not found for both races so they were cancelled. On the other hand, the junior category saw 2 staggering races that were won by Lebanese karting champion Patrick Njeim.
Rounds 4 and 5 were scheduled last Saturday and were promising to deliver especially with the return of races in the Mini category. The unexpected happened. Stephano Mounarcha and Rubens Boushabke the winner and the runner up of the first run were withdrawn from the competition by their parents due to what “they” called lack of organization. The lack of organization later on was understood to be their objection on issues related to sealing and sealing diplomas that were not provided by fellow drivers. The case was brought on weirdly as we can say as the championship this year saw the absence of official representation from Rotax Max due to the turbulence in the region despite having the first race covered by an Egyptian representative. Although the issue rising was righteous we cannot deny that it might well be overreacted and the young drivers saw their promised time of racing evaporate. Imad Boushabke Rubens’ father stated that his decision was not based on any accusation of fellow parents and drivers in cheating, but more an issue of principle and clarity. On this ground both round 4 and 5 for the Mini category saw the participation of 3 drivers which is a violation of the rules. Who is to blame on this issue is not clear because the whole circumstances of the championship were challenging this year and get away with the right decision for both the drivers and organizing committee was very difficult. The only losers are the young drivers for sure.
On the other hand the Junior category was a big success over the course of the season. The races were action packed although they saw only 2 winners. The competition was fierce and we saw some big improvement for many drivers. Patrick Njeim the reigning champion was able to clinch the win in the first 4 races which some him battle hard and work his way to the top. On the last race he was beaten by Micheal Patrick Azar who was improving dramatically this year and was able to drive a much leveled final race to score the win. Patrick Njeim won the championship yet again and put himself in the hot seat as Lebanon’s most promising talent and is looking forward to a bright future. After the race Patrick told us that he is very happy with the win and that he proved himself the best yet again, and he is looking forward to finding some sponsors to back his career.
This season came to an end with all its ups and downs but never the less we have got a lot of things to learn from. On top of them all we should not forget that Karting is the base of every motorsport champion.