Rotax Max Challenge Explained

The Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals (RMC) is a kart racing series owned and organized worldwide by BRP-Rotax and its distributors, approved and in compliance with CIK-FIA. Competition takes place on a club, national and international level which culminates in the Grand Finals once a year.

Concept

The RMC follows a "one-make-engine" formula: only Rotax Max kart engines are allowed. The success in the competition is mainly up to the skills of the driver and that driver's experience in the set up of the engine and the chassis.

Three race classes are recognized for international competition:

ClassPowerAge
Junior MAX10–16 years of age
MAX13 years and older
DD2,
2 speed shifter class
13 years and older

Competition at the national level can include additional classes at the discretion of each national RMC. For example, the US RMC includes the following classes:

ClassPowerAge
Micro MAX7–10 years of age
Mini MAX9–12 years of age
Junior MAX13–16 years of age
Senior MAX15 years and older
Masters MAX32 years and older
DD2 MAX,
2 speed shifter class
Senior: 15 years and older/ Masters: 32 years and older

Authorised distributors of Rotax kart products offer their customers a national RMC programme according to the “Rotax Sporting and Technical Regulations” defined by BRP-Rotax. This results in a fair competition between kart racers that share the same interests.

National Rotax Max Challenge:

International / Continental Rotax Max Challenge competitions:

Out of all national as well as continental and international series, drivers qualify for the annual RMC Grand Finals, which is an invitational race. BRP-Powertrain and its partners supply all engines and karts for the event.

RMC Grand Finals

The Grand Finals of the RMC is an international CIK event. Drivers can qualify for the RMC Grand Final via the national Challenge of their home country and the international RMC. The season's winners of each class of all national RMCs and of the international RMC participate free of cost.

The Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals is by far the fairest, most international kart sporting event in the world – since all drivers have the same controlled and sealed engines, chassis, tyres and fuel – leaving only the drivers skill to determine the winner of the competition. Every year, competitors from around 60 countries, from five continents, can qualify for the annual Grand Finals of the Rotax Max Challenge.

History

The first edition of the Grand Finals took place in 2000 on the island of Puerto Rico with 66 drivers representing 19 countries.

In 2001, finalists were invited to the tropical island of Langkawi in Malaysia. That year, 68 drivers from 29 countries compete for the RMC "world champion" title.

South Africa hosted the Grand Finals in 2002, on a track just outside Pretoria. Drivers from 33 nations were vying for the gold.

In 2003, the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals moved to Egypt. That year, the Junior category was introduced. It was also the company's first time cooperating with a chassis manufacturer in order to supply comparable karts to the competitors. The Junior category raced on a 'single make' chassis supplied by CRG while the seniors raced on their private chassis. This move increased the number of participants to almost 100, representing close to 40 countries.

The volcanic island of Lanzarote in Spain welcomed the 5th Grand Finals in 2004. That event saw for the first time all competitors racing on supplied 'single make' chassis provided by CRG for the Junior category and by BRP-Rotax for the Senior category. Another milestone was the first use by the senior category of the Rotax RM1 chassis with the new 2-speed shifter engine–the 125 MAX DD2.

The Grand Finals returned to Malaysia in 2005. This time, BRP-Rotax presented an even larger event by running three categories: Junior MAX, Senior MAX and the RM1 shifter (now DD2). The event attracted 140 drivers from 43 nations.

Viana do Castelo in Portugal was the host of the 2006 edition of the RMC Grand Finals and reached a record 186 participants from about 50 countries.

In 2007, the 8th RMC Grand Finals took place at the Al Ain Raceway, a modern and brand new kart racing facility in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates operated by Pro Motorsports / Al Ain Sportplex.

In 2008, the racing event moved to the track of La Conca–Muro Leccese, Italy, with 216 drivers. La Conca is one of the best karting facilities on earth, located 80 km south of Brindisi and close to the city of Otranto in the beautiful region of Apulia.

The 2009 edition took place in December on the desert track of Ghibli Raceway Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

For 2010 the event is heading towards the south of Italy again. At this event the first time 252 drivers will participate as a new category the 125 DD2 MASTERS was added, which is a category for the +32 years old.

2011 was the 12th edition of the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at Al Ain/United Arab Emirates with 265 drivers from over 60 countries.

2012 Portugal hosted the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals for the second time. 276 drivers participated.

In 2013 the Grand Finals took place in New Orleans/United States and thus it is the first time for the RMCGF to be hosted on American turf. 360 drivers participated in the race.

2014 was the 15th edition of the RMCGF and was hosted in Valencia/Spain. This was the third time that the Grand Finals take place on the Iberian Peninsula after Portugal in 2006 and 2012.

In 2015 the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF) has come to a thrilling and nail-biting end at the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve, with the United States of America bringing home the Nation’s Cup.

The 17th edition of the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF) will take place at the Circuito Internazionale di Napoli in Sarno, Italy from October 16 to 22, 2016. This event also saw the Micro and Mini classes count as official titles for the first time, having been held as support races for several years, meaning that this edition featured the largest RMCGF entry in its history.

The 2020 edition was originally scheduled to be contested at Sarno, however it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. A replacement race, named the International Trophy, was organised at Portimao.

Winners

YearDriverClassEvent Location
2000 Gavin CronjeMAXPuerto Rico
2001 Claudio Piazza-MussoMAXMalaysia
2002 Mark CronjeMAXSouth Africa
2003 Cristiano MorgadoMAX Egypt
Omar MartinJunior
2004 Wesleigh OrrRM1Spain
Sam GhallebMAX Masters
Benjamin SalvatoreJunior
2005 Wesleigh OrrRM1Malaysia
Luuk GlansdorpMAX
Satya RasaMAX Masters
Kenneth HildebrandJunior
2006 Ben GeorgeDD2Portugal
Ricardo RomkemaMAX
Luc SauriolMAX Masters
Jorrit PexJunior
United KingdomNations Cup
2007 Pier-Luc OuelletteDD2United Arab Emirates
Christophe AdamsDD2 Masters
Benjy RussellMAX
Colin DavisMAX Masters
Kevin KorjusJunior
CanadaNations Cup
2008 Leeroy PoulterDD2Italy
Dennis KroesDD2 Masters
Ben CooperMAX
Martin PierceMAX Masters
Facundo ChapurJunior
United KingdomNations Cup
2009 Caleb WilliamsDD2Egypt
Perez J. SantanderDD2 Masters
Luke VarleyMAX
Christophe AdamsMAX Masters
Ukyo SasaharaJunior
United KingdomNations Cup
2010 Daniel MoradDD2Italy
Scott CambellDD2 Masters
Caleb WilliamsMAX
Martin RumpJunior
SpainNations Cup
2011 Pier-Luc OuelletteDD2United Arab Emirates
Cristiano MorgadoDD2 Masters
Ben CooperMAX
Ukyo SasaharaJunior
AustraliaNations Cup
2012 Ben CooperDD2Portugal
Cristiano MorgadoDD2 Masters
Charlie EastwoodMAX
Harry WebbJunior
United KingdomNations Cup
2013 Simas JuodvirsisDD2United States
Cristiano MorgadoDD2 Masters
Oliver HodgsonMAX
Juan Manuel CorreaJunior
United StatesNations Cup
2014 Sean BabingtonDD2Spain
Mikko LaineDD2 Masters
Carlos GilSenior
Jüri VipsJunior
South AfricaNations Cup
2015 Ferenc KancsarDD2Portugal
Ryan UrbanDD2 Masters
Alex IrlandoSenior
Florian VenturiJunior
United StatesNations Cup
2016 Ferenc KancsarDD2Italy
Lee MitchenerDD2 Masters
Denis MavlanovSenior
Mark KimberJunior
Jayden ElsMini
Diego LaroqueMicro
CanadaNations Cup
2017 Cody GillisDD2Portugal
Troy WoolstonDD2 Masters
Brett WardSenior
Tijmen van der HelmJunior
Marcus AmandMini
Louis IglésiasMicro
AustraliaNations Cup
2018 Paolo BesancenezDD2Brazil
Cristiano MorgadoDD2 Masters
Senna van WalstijnSenior
Robert de HaanJunior
Farin MeggerMini
Brent CrewsMicro
BrazilNations Cup
2019 Petr BezelDD2Italy
Robert PesevskiDD2 Masters
Axel SaarnialaSenior
Clay OsborneJunior
Jolan RaccamierMini
Jay UrwinMicro
FranceNations Cup
2020 Xander PrzybylakDD2Portugal
Henrijs GrubeDD2 Masters
Morgan PorterSenior
Daniel Guinchard[1] Junior
Alexander SkjeltenMini
Christopher El FeghaliMicro
2021 Martijn van LeeuwenDD2Bahrain
Morgan RicheDD2 Masters
Mark KimberSenior
Tomass StolcermanisJunior
Arata EndoMini
Nikita LjubimovMicro
FranceNations Cup
2022 Mark KimberDD2Portugal
Kristaps GasparovicsDD2 Masters
Callum BradshawSenior
Scott MarshJunior
Christopher El FeghaliMini
Martim MarquesMicro
Great BritainNations Cup
2023 Ragnar VeerusDD2Bahrain
Ben CooperDD2 Masters
Andrej PetrovicSenior
Timo JunglingJunior
Rory ArmstrongMini
Jenson ChalkMicro
Great BritainNations Cup

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.apex-timing.com/goracing/results.php?path=/3mkevents/2020/rmcit/&group=19