��������

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.

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.

ROCESTER: Similar to last season, Joaquin Niemann entered this week’s LIV Golf UK by JCB as the season-long points leader, with Jon Rahm in hot pursuit. The Torque GC captain is determined to write a different ending this time.

Niemann, a four-time winner this season, shot a bogey-free 65 on Friday at JCB Golf & Country Club to grab a share of the first-round lead with Cleeks GC’s Adrian Meronk and Stinger GC’s Branden Grace.

The trio are one shot ahead of Majesticks’ co-captain Lee Westwood, RangeGoats’ captain Bubba Watson, and Niemann’s Torque teammate Carlos Ortiz.

The team leaderboard is also tightly bunched at the top with defending UK champions Legion XIII tied with Stinger and Torque at 11 under. Six other teams are within five shots of the lead.

Rahm won the individual UK trophy for his first career LIV Golf victory a year ago, using it as a springboard to catch Niemann for the season-long Individual Championship in the regular-season finale.

Niemann entered this week with a 15-point lead over Rahm and is now in a great position to build on his advantage, as Rahm shot an even-par 71 and is tied for 32nd. Crushers’ captain Bryson DeChambeau, who is in third place in the standings, is tied for 11th after a 68.

Based on projections after Friday’s first round, Niemann would leave England with a 44-point lead, which would mean he would be guaranteed pole position in the standings going into the regular-season finale, LIV Golf Indianapolis, to determine the Individual Championship next month.

Niemann, who birdied four of his first six holes, said: “I’m in a really privileged situation to be on top of the rankings and being chased by Jon and Bryson. It just makes me a better athlete. I like that pressure.”

Unlike Niemann, the other two players who share the lead are fighting different battles.

Grace has spent most of the season in the drop zone (49th and below in points) and facing relegation while battling wrist problems, but the South African has found his form recently. He tied for fourth earlier this month in Andalucia, a result that moved him out of the drop zone, and he continued his fine play with a round that started hot (three birdies in his first four holes) and ended the same way.

Meronk, meanwhile, returned to the kind of form on Friday that secured him the season-opening tournament in Riyadh. His 65 was his best score, relative to par, in his last 25 LIV Golf rounds.

The Polish star, who finished with four birdies in his last five holes, said: “Finally, I’m enjoying myself on the course and playing good golf again, which is quite exciting.

“It’s great to be back in this position, and I’m really looking forward to this weekend and to three more tournaments this year.”

Of the top eight players on the leaderboard, three are from England, led by the resurgent Westwood, the 52-year-old legend who tied an Open Championship record last week at Royal Portrush by shooting a back-nine 29.

Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton and the Crushers’ Paul Casey, the other two Englishmen on the front page of the leaderboard, are tied for seventh after shooting 67s.

All six English players on the LIV Golf roster received huge support from a packed and enthusiastic gallery at JCB, which is hosting the tournament for the second successive year and will return as a host course next season.

“It feels like our home event, and it’s always nice to perform in front of home fans,” said Westwood, who played with fellow Englishmen and Majesticks’ teammates Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield on Friday.

The crowd was especially vocal at the par-3 14th. “It’s a fun atmosphere,” said Hatton, who tied for second last year to his captain Rahm. “There were a lot of people there, and the music was good too. I think most of us probably enjoyed a singalong down that hole.”

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores counting in every round in the team competition (click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Friday’s round one of LIV Golf UK by JCB.

T1. LEGION XIII -11 (Hatton 67, Surratt 67, McKibbin 68, Rahm 71)

T1. STINGER GC -11 (Grace 65, Schwartzel 68, Burmester 69, Oosthuizen 71)

T1. TORQUE GC -11 (Niemann 65, Ortiz 66, Muñoz 71, Pereira 71)

4. RIPPER GC -10 (Leishman 67, Smith 68, Herbert 69, Jones 70)

5. MAJESTICKS GC -9 (Westwood 66, Horsfield 68, Stenson 70, Poulter 71)

6. HYFLYERS GC -6 (Tringale 68, Ogletree 69, Mickelson 70, Steele 71)

T7. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 65, Bland 71, Kaymer 71, Kjettrup 72)

T7. RANGEGOATS GC -5 (Watson 66, Campbell 70. Wolff 71, Uihlein 72)

T7. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Casey 67, DeChambeau 68, Howell III 68, Lahiri 76)

10. FIREBALLS GC -3 (Puig 68, Ballester 70, Garcia 71, Ancer 72)

T11. 4ACES GC E (Reed 68, Pieters 70, Varner III 72, Johnson 74)

T11. SMASH GC E (Gooch 70, Kokrak 70, Koepka 72, McDowell 72)

13. IRON HEADS GC +2 (Jang 69, Kozuma 72, Lee 72, Na 73)

Wildcards: Kim 72, C. Lee 75