Rotax Max Challenge

Rotax Max DD2 karts
Racing kart
The start of the race
On the track
Jr Rotax - 2010 US Grand Nationals
Jr Rotax
Accident at the race
On the track in Italy

The Rotax Max Challenge (RMC) is a kart racing series owned and organized worldwide by BRP-Powertrain 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:

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:

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 different 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 different 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 different countries.

2012 Portugal is hosting the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals for the second time. The circuit Portimao Karting Circuit is one of the discipline’s best venues anywhere in the world and also one of the most modern of its kind. 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 and will see the longest kart line-up in the RMCGF history.

Winners

Year Driver Class Event Location
2000 South Africa Gavin Cronje MAX Puerto Rico
2001 South Africa Claudio Piazza-Musso MAX Malaysia
2002 South Africa Mark Cronje MAX South Africa South Africa
2003 South Africa Cristiano Morgado MAX Spain
Spain Omar Martin Junior
2004 South Africa Wesleigh Orr RM1 Egypt
France Sam Ghalleb MAX Masters
France Benjamin Salvatore Junior
2005 South Africa Wesleigh Orr RM1 Malaysia
Netherlands Luuk Glansdorp MAX
Indonesia Satya Rasa MAX Masters
Estonia Kenneth Hildebrand Junior
2006 Australia Ben George DD2 Portugal
Netherlands Ricardo Romkema MAX
Canada Luc Sauriol MAX Masters
Belgium Jorrit Pex Junior
United Kingdom United Kingdom Nations Cup
2007 Canada Pier-Luc Ouellette DD2 United Arab Emirates
Belgium Christophe Adams DD2 Masters
United Kingdom Benjy Russell MAX
United Kingdom Colin Davis MAX Masters
Estonia Kevin Korjus Junior
Canada Canada Nations Cup
2008 South Africa Leeroy Poulter DD2 Italy
Netherlands Dennis Kroes DD2 Masters
United Kingdom Ben Cooper MAX
Republic of Ireland Martin Pierce MAX Masters
Argentina Facundo Chapur Junior
United Kingdom United Kingdom Nations Cup
2009 South Africa Caleb Williams DD2 Egypt
Spain Perez J. Santander DD2 Masters
United Kingdom Luke Varley MAX
Belgium Christophe Adams MAX Masters
Japan Ukyo Sasahara Junior
United Kingdom United Kingdom Nations Cup
2010 Canada Daniel Morad DD2 Italy
Canada Scott Cambell DD2 Masters
South Africa Caleb Williams MAX
Estonia Martin Rump Junior
Spain Spain Nations Cup
2011 Canada Pier-Luc Ouellette DD2 United Arab Emirates
South Africa Cristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
United Kingdom Ben Cooper MAX
Japan Ukyo Sasahara Junior
Australia Australia Nations Cup
2012 United Kingdom Ben Cooper DD2 Portugal
South Africa Cristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
Republic of Ireland Charlie Eastwood MAX
United Kingdom Harry Webb Junior
United Kingdom United Kingdom Nations Cup
2013 Lithuania Simas Juodvirsis DD2 United States
South AfricaChristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
United Kingdom Oliver Hodgson MAX
United StatesJuan Correa Junior
United States United States Nations Cup
2014 United Kingdom Sean Babington DD2 Spain
FinlandMikko Laine DD2 Masters
Spain Carlos Gil Senior
Estonia Juri Vips Junior
South Africa South Africa Nations Cup
2015 HungaryFerenc Kancsar DD2 Portugal
New Zealand Ryan Urban DD2 Masters
Italy Alex Irlando Senior
France Florian Venturi Junior
United States United States Nations Cup

References

    External links

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.