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.

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

Concept

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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:

Class Power Age
Junior MAX 17 kW (23 hp) 10–16 years of age
MAX 22 kW (30 hp) 13 years and older
DD2,
2 speed shifter class
25 kW (34 hp) 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:

Class Power Age
Micro MAX 6 kW (8 hp) 7–10 years of age
Mini MAX 11 kW (15 hp) 9–12 years of age
Junior MAX 17 kW (23 hp) 13–16 years of age
Senior MAX 22 kW (30 hp) 15 years and older
Masters MAX 22 kW (30 hp) 32 years and older
DD2 MAX,
2 speed shifter class
25 kW (34 hp) 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:

  • nearly 7,500 active Rotax MAX drivers in the RMC programme as well as another 7,500 active drivers in race series following the RMC idea.
  • competing in around 60 countries on all 5 continents around the globe

International / Continental Rotax Max Challenge competitions:

  • Rotax MAX Euro Challenge (over 150 drivers participating)
  • Rotax MAX Asia Challenge (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, China)
  • Rotax MAX US Open

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

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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

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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

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Year Driver Class Event Location
2000   Gavin Cronje MAX Puerto Rico
2001   Claudio Piazza-Musso MAX Malaysia
2002   Mark Cronje MAX South Africa
2003   Cristiano Morgado MAX Egypt
  Omar Martin Junior
2004   Wesleigh Orr RM1 Spain
  Sam Ghalleb MAX Masters
  Benjamin Salvatore Junior
2005   Wesleigh Orr RM1 Malaysia
  Luuk Glansdorp MAX
  Satya Rasa MAX Masters
  Kenneth Hildebrand Junior
2006   Ben George DD2 Portugal
  Ricardo Romkema MAX
  Luc Sauriol MAX Masters
  Jorrit Pex Junior
  United Kingdom Nations Cup
2007   Pier-Luc Ouellette DD2 United Arab Emirates
  Christophe Adams DD2 Masters
  Benjy Russell MAX
  Colin Davis MAX Masters
  Kevin Korjus Junior
  Canada Nations Cup
2008   Leeroy Poulter DD2 Italy
  Dennis Kroes DD2 Masters
  Ben Cooper MAX
  Martin Pierce MAX Masters
  Facundo Chapur Junior
  United Kingdom Nations Cup
2009   Caleb Williams DD2 Egypt
  Perez J. Santander DD2 Masters
  Luke Varley MAX
  Christophe Adams MAX Masters
  Ukyo Sasahara Junior
  United Kingdom Nations Cup
2010   Daniel Morad DD2 Italy
  Scott Cambell DD2 Masters
  Caleb Williams MAX
  Martin Rump Junior
  Spain Nations Cup
2011   Pier-Luc Ouellette DD2 United Arab Emirates
  Cristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
  Ben Cooper MAX
  Ukyo Sasahara Junior
  Australia Nations Cup
2012   Ben Cooper DD2 Portugal
  Cristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
  Charlie Eastwood MAX
  Harry Webb Junior
  United Kingdom Nations Cup
2013   Simas Juodvirsis DD2 United States
  Cristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
  Oliver Hodgson MAX
  Juan Manuel Correa Junior
  United States Nations Cup
2014   Sean Babington DD2 Spain
  Mikko Laine DD2 Masters
  Carlos Gil Senior
  Jüri Vips Junior
  South Africa Nations Cup
2015   Ferenc Kancsar DD2 Portugal
  Ryan Urban DD2 Masters
  Alex Irlando Senior
  Florian Venturi Junior
  United States Nations Cup
2016   Ferenc Kancsar DD2 Italy
  Lee Mitchener DD2 Masters
  Denis Mavlanov Senior
  Mark Kimber Junior
  Jayden Els Mini
  Diego Laroque Micro
  Canada Nations Cup
2017   Cody Gillis DD2 Portugal
  Troy Woolston DD2 Masters
  Brett Ward Senior
  Tijmen van der Helm Junior
  Marcus Amand Mini
  Louis Iglésias Micro
  Australia Nations Cup
2018   Paolo Besancenez DD2 Brazil
  Cristiano Morgado DD2 Masters
  Senna van Walstijn Senior
  Robert de Haan Junior
  Farin Megger Mini
  Brent Crews Micro
  Brazil Nations Cup
2019   Petr Bezel DD2 Italy
  Robert Pesevski DD2 Masters
  Axel Saarniala Senior
  Clay Osborne Junior
  Jolan Raccamier Mini
  Jay Urwin Micro
  France Nations Cup
2020   Xander Przybylak DD2 Portugal
  Henrijs Grube DD2 Masters
  Morgan Porter Senior
  Daniel Guinchard[1] Junior
  Alexander Skjelten Mini
  Christopher El Feghali Micro
2021   Martijn van Leeuwen DD2 Bahrain
  Morgan Riche DD2 Masters
  Mark Kimber Senior
  Tomass Stolcermanis Junior
  Arata Endo Mini
  Nikita Ljubimov Micro
  France Nations Cup
2022   Mark Kimber DD2 Portugal
  Kristaps Gasparovics DD2 Masters
  Callum Bradshaw Senior
  Scott Marsh Junior
  Christopher El Feghali Mini
  Martim Marques Micro
  Great Britain Nations Cup
2023   Ragnar Veerus DD2 Bahrain
  Ben Cooper DD2 Masters
  Andrej Petrovic Senior
  Timo Jungling Junior
  Rory Armstrong Mini
  Jenson Chalk Micro
  Great Britain Nations Cup
2024   Xen De Ruwe DD2 Italy
  Nicolas Picot DD2 Masters
  Vic Stevens Senior
  Jacob Ashcroft Junior
  Zdenek Babicek Mini
  Joshua Cooke Micro
  Great Britain Nations Cup

References

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  1. ^ "Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy 2020 Results".
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