Series supplemental rules, tire update and Mini Max Rev Limiter highlight standards for upcoming season

ORANGE, CA (December 18, 2012) – Just weeks away is the start of the 2013 Rotax Challenge of the Americas program. Entries from all over the west coast are streaming in prior to the opening round set for the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona on the January 11-13 weekend. Series officials are also putting in the final touches on the standards by which the series will conduct itself, with four tickets to the Rotax Grand Finals scheduled for the first time on United States soil, at the NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisiana to be awarded to four championship drivers in 2013.

2013 Rules:

The Rotax Challenge of the Americas standards for the 2013 season is soon to be published on the series website, including the series supplemental rules. The order in which the series conducts its rule structure is the following: COTA supplemental rulebook and then the 2012 Rotax Max Challenge International Sporting and Technical Regulations. Any particular ruling not covered in the COTA supplemental rulebook defers to the 2012 International regulations.

2013 Tire Requirements:

For the 2013 season, the Junior Max, Mini Max and Micro Max categories will utilize the Mojo D1 tires. The Mojo D2 tire is reserved for the Senior Max and Masters Max divisions while the spec tire for DD2 and DD2 Masters is the Mojo D3. All competitors are required to compete on the slick tires purchased through the Rotax Challenge of the Americas entry form. Mini Max and Micro Max drivers are limited to one set of slick tires for the weekend, while all other classes will receive one new set for each race day. In the event of rain, the Mojo W2 is the spec rain tire. It is the responsibility of the competitors to be prepared with rain tires should they be needed, as COTA will not be providing tires for purchase.

Mini Max Rev Limiter Project:

In an effort to eliminate higher speeds and the “Turbo” effect in the Mini Max category, the MAXSpeed Group has helped to develop a Rev Limiter for the category. The Mini Max engine power amplifies dramatically once it passes over the 12,600 RPM mark, with speeds increasing from 60mph to 70mph in a matter of seconds. This new Mini Max Rev Limiter is designed to allow the engine to reach the 12,550 RPM mark, and then allow the ignition to fire just enough to keep the engine running without advancing to a high RPM. Testing sessions have been done on a dyno along with on-track testing at three different U.S. Rotax Max Challenge local events recently, with positive feedback. With the guidance of the MAXSpeed Group, the Rotax Challenge of the Americas will mandate the Mini Max Rev Limiter for all competitors in the category for the 2013 season.

Within the COTA supplemental rules regarding the Mini Max Rev Limiter, they will be made available at each event starting on the Wednesday prior to official practice opening on Friday. Rotax Challenge of the Americas will be providing every Mini Max Rev Limiter free of charge and must be returned at the completion of the event.

Andy Seesemann, promoter of the Rotax Challenge of the Americas added his thoughts to the 2013 rule package, “I’m pleased with the addition of the Mini Max Rev Limiter as it should eliminate some of the issues we have seen come up in the category over the past few seasons. I’d like to thank MAXSpeed, the Florida Winter Tour and everyone involved for their cooperation as to implementing this new device, along with providing consistency across the board by following the 2012 Rotax Max Challenge international rules for our programs. This only further exemplifies our commitment to providing the best series possible for our customers.”

The Rotax Challenge of the Americas schedule has three race weekends, counting toward six rounds of competition. After the series kicks off in Tucson, Arizona, the program travels to the PKRA Formula K Raceway north of Phoenix on February 8-10. The 2013 Rotax COTA champions will be crowned at the CalSpeed Karting circuit outside the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on March 8-10. All seven Rotax Max Challenge categories will be offered for the 2013 season, with champions in the Masters Max, Mini Max and Micro Max earning a qualifying spot to their home country Rotax Grand Nationals. DD2, Senior Max, DD2 Masters and Junior Max will battle over the three months for the Rotax Grand Finals tickets. Each champion must be properly qualified by the Rotax Max Challenge rules of their home country to accept these prizes. All events will be broadcasted live through the eKartingNews.com Trackside Live program.

For more information and to follow updates as the season draws closer, bookmark www.rotaxchallenge.com and click to the following link (registration.rotaxchallenge.com) to submit your registration form for the upcoming Rotax Challenge of Americas events.

Journey toward series championship and tickets to Rotax Grand Finals 2013 begins now

ORANGE, CA (December 5, 2012) – The 2013 season is just around the corner, and the Rotax Challenge of the Americas is preparing for another record breaking year. Ranked among one of the top programs in the world, the international Rotax Max Challenge series is happy to announce the opening of registration for all three events through January to March. Competitors and teams can now visit rotaxchallenge.com to find the link to sign up for the upcoming events, with four 2013 Rotax Grand Finals tickets to compete at the NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans in November up for grabs.

“Our series kicks off in roughly one month in Arizona and I’m truly excited about the 2013 season,” stated Rotax Challenge of the America promoter Andy Seesemann, who just returned from the 2012 Rotax Grand Finals in Portimao, Portugal. “This past winter, we saw great racing with very competitive fields throughout the three months, and battles for the series championships were decided on the final laps, if not the final few corners. Now with the recent announcement of next year’s Rotax Grand Finals coming to the United States for the first time, I have no doubt we will see some new names coming to compete for one of the four direct qualifying tickets that we will award to our champions in Senior Max, DD2, DD2 Masters and Junior Max.”

Seesemann traveled to the Kartodromo Internacional do Algarve in southern Portugal in support of the four Rotax Challenge of the Americas champions competing against the best in the world – Americans Phil DeLaO (Senior Max), Fritz Leesmann (DD2), and John Crow (DD2 Masters) along with Canadian Zacharie Scalzo (Junior Max). DeLaO qualified an impressive 10th overall but ran into trouble through the heat races and LCQ, thus unable to qualify for the main event. Leesmann fought engine issues all week and once cured, he drove his way from the LCQ and up to the 19th position in the Final. Crow made his first Rotax Grand Finals start, qualifying for Championship Saturday and placing 29th. Scalzo showed the never give up attitude, recovering from going upside-down on one of the infield berms, climbing out and getting back in so that he could complete the race. He ran all 18 laps to finish 29th overall.

“I was pleased with the effort all four drivers put in at this year’s Grand Finals, and they represented their respective countries and the Challenge of the Americas well,” continued Seesemann. “I met with officials at Rotax and BRP-Powertrain while there to support those four drivers, along with connecting with other Rotax Max Challenge promoters and competitors outside the United States and Canada. We received a lot of feedback about the program we provide here, and have heard from drivers in Mexico and other South American countries interested in competing this year at the Challenge of the Americas. We saw an increase in driver participation last year, and another increase is expected for 2013.”

The Rotax Challenge of the Americas schedule has three race weekends, counting toward six rounds of competition. The series kicks off at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona on the January 11-13 weekend. The following month is the PKRA Formula K Raceway north of Phoenix on February 8-10 with the 2013 champions to be crowned once again at the CalSpeed Karting circuit outside the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on March 8-10. All seven Rotax Max Challenge categories will be offered for the 2013 season, with champions in the Masters Max, Mini Max and Micro Max earning a qualifying spot to their home country Rotax Grand Nationals. Each champion must be properly qualified by the Rotax Max Challenge rules of their home country to accept these prizes.

For more information and to follow updates as the season draws closer, bookmark www.rotaxchallenge.com and click to the following link (registration.rotaxchallenge.com) to submit your registration form for the upcoming Rotax Challenge of Americas events.

As the 2012 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals comes to a close, the MAXSpeed Group is excited to announce that the 2013 Grand Finals will be coming to the United States. The event will be held in November at the karting facility at the NOLA Motorsports Park, just outside New Orleans.

“This event has been our primary focus ever since we started handling the distribution of Rotax products in the United States,” said MAXSpeed president Richard Boisclair. “For the last two years, everyone at The MAXSpeed Group, NOLA Motorsports Park and BRP-Powertrain have been working very hard to make this happen.”

For BRP-Powertrain’s Robert Gumpenberger, this announcement is also the realization of a goal. “It has always been our desire to have a Grand Final in the United States. But the time and conditions have never been right,” said Robert. “But now, with the efforts of The MAXSpeed Group, I believe now is the correct time for the Grand Finals to be hosted in America. We are all looking forward to a very special event in New Orleans.”

In the weeks to come, The MAXSpeed Group will be releasing more information on the event. To keep up to date on the latest news, go to www.GoRotax.com and be sure to “like” us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/gorotax for more information.

The MAXSpeed Group is proud to announce Mooresville Motorplex as the host of the 2013 Rotax MAX Challenge U.S. Grand Nationals. The official dates of competition are from July 31st through August 3rd.

The new facility, just outside of Charlotte, NC, features a 7/10s of a mile track layout that is wide, fast and adorned with extra runoff areas and CIK curbing. The track also features amenities such as professional garages, an on-site kart shop and more. Mooresville Motorplex is also equipped with lighting for night races and an expansive pit area with separate parking area for RVs and motorhomes.

U. S. Rotax MAX Challenge Administrator Josh Smith had this to say about the new location, “The Mooresville Motorplex is an awesome location for our Grand Nationals. Everything they’ve done there is first class.” Mooresville Motorplex owner Justin Marks was justifiably proud of the new complex. “Our crew has worked so hard to make this facility happen. To be chosen to host the Rotax MAX Challenge U.S. Grand Nationals is a huge compliment. Our goal is to make next year’s event one people will talk about for years to come.”

The Mooresville area is world renowned as the home of NASCAR and the Motorplex is centered among many of the Sprint Cup Series leading teams. The area also features a plethora of hotels, restaurants and shopping.

Pan-American Dates Announced
MAXSpeed would also like to announce that the 2013 Rotax MAX Pan-American Challenge will take place from September 19th to the 22nd. The location of the event will be released soon.

Junior, Mini and Micro MAX To Run On D1 Tires Starting in 2013

The MAXSpeed Group is advising all MAX Challenge competitors of new tire regulations for the 2013 season. Effective January 1st, 2013, Junior MAX, Mini MAX and Micro MAX will all compete on the Mojo D1 tire.

This change in regulation effectively brings the U.S. market in-line with the worldwide MAX Challenge tire rules while addressing concerns over the progression of speed between the different classes. The four senior classes remain unaffected and will continue to race on the same tires they did in 2012.

For those that wish to prepare early for 2013, our distributor is now fully stocked so let us know what you need! Call 714 289 0432 or Contact Us and we’ll set you up.

Preparations are underway for drivers from across the world to compete at this year’s Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimao, Portugal on November 28-December 1. This year, three drivers will contest for the Rotax world title in the DD2, Senior Max and Junior Max categories thanks to their championship performances at the Challenge of the Americas series this past winter. The international Rotax Max Challenge series is now proud to announce a fourth Rotax Grand Finals ticket has been awarded to the program for the 2013 season, beginning January 11-13 in Tucson, Arizona.

For the past three seasons, the driver who secures the championship in DD2, Senior Max and Junior Max earned a ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals for that season, representing his/her country along with the Challenge of the Americas program. This year, Fritz Leesmann, Phil DeLaO, and Zacharie Scalzo will compete in Portugal under their respective country flags thanks to the Challenge of the Americas. With the addition of the DD2 Masters to the ‘Olympics of Karting’ event held every year, the United States-based series was granted a fourth ticket from BRP-Powertrain, promoters of the Rotax Max Challenge, thus giving four drivers the opportunity to claim a spot at the Rotax world championship.

Series promoter Andy Seesemann has been a longtime supporter of the Rotax brand and could not be happier with the addition of the fourth Rotax Grand Finals ticket to his program, “The DD2 category is not as popular as we’d like to see in the United States, but world-wide it’s becoming the class to race, as we will see at this year’s Grand Finals. Since the inception of the DD2 Masters class at the Grand Finals, it’s caught the attention of many Masters drivers in North America, and the class is steadily growing. Now with Challenge of the Americas offering a Rotax Grand Finals ticket for the class champion, I expect to see a growth in numbers for our series in that class for 2013, along with the rest of our categories.”

The Challenge of the Americas will once again offer all seven Rotax Max Challenge categories for the 2013 season – Masters Max, Mini Max and Micro Max the remaining three classes. The schedule will host six rounds of racing on three weekends between January and March, based in the southwest section of the United States. Drivers from across the U.S., as well as Canada and several other countries – including as far as Brazil and Australia – have competed in previous editions of the program. Multi-time Aussie Rotax champion David Sera and former Canadian and Rotax Grand Finals champion Scott Campbell rank among some of the top competitors to sample the Challenge of the Americas racing action.

The year is scheduled to kick off at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona on the January 11-13 weekend. The following month is a return to the Copper State and the PKRA Formula K Raceway north of Phoenix on February 8-10. The series will then complete the final two rounds of competition and crown the 2013 champions at the CalSpeed Karting circuit outside the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California – March 8-10.

For more information on the 2013 Challenge of the Americas events and to follow updates as the season draws closer, bookmark http://www.gatorzkarting.com

Now, For A Limited Time, Get a 12-Month Warranty On Any New Rotax MAX Engine!

Buy your engine now and profit from a 12 months warranty that will cover a full racing season.
From September 1st through December 31st of 2012, retail purchasers of any New Rotax MAX engine package will receive an extra 6 months on the standard warranty period. This program is aimed to help the racer by covering their Rotax MAX engine through an entire racing season.

This promotion is good on ALL new Rotax MAX engine packages sold (Micro MAX, Mini MAX, Junior MAX, 125 MAX and DD2). Contact your local or regional Rotax Service Center your engine package complete with the full 12-month warranty.

The Popular Engine TRADE-IN Program From 2011 Returns for 2012!

Purchase a NEW Rotax engine package (Micro MAX, Mini MAX, Junior MAX, Senior MAX or DD2) and receive CASH BACK for any complete used engine package you trade-in.
This special promotion offers a CASH VALUE for complete used engine trade-ins. Those hanging on to older yamaha engines, 4-cycle engines, Comer engines or others may be the perfect customer as a cash-incentive is now available!

*Rules:

• Trade-In offer valid toward new Rotax engine package only (Micro, Mini, Jr., Sr. or DD2)
• Only one old kart engine will be exchanged per purchase
• Competitor engines are accepted (all types)
• Maximum CC trade-in value of 125cc for 2-cycle engines or 270cc for 4-cycle engines
• Offer limited to only participating distributors/dealers

Trade-In Value Breakdown:

• 100cc & under: $350 to trade in
• 4 Stroke: $1.4 /CC up to 270 CC.
• TaG & Shifter: $500 on any TaG or Shifter engines

With the end of the 2012 racing season coming to a close in the upcoming months, the officials with the Challenge of the Americas program are happy to announce the plans for the 2013 season. The international Rotax Max Challenge based in the western half of the United States is preparing for its sixth season, and projecting another record breaking year, welcoming drivers from all across the North American continent and other countries from around the world. The upcoming season – schedule between the months of January through March in 2013 – will feature the same three facilities that were utilized this year, with tickets to the 2013 Rotax Grand Finals on the line for Senior Max, Junior Max and DD2.

2013 Challenge of the Americas Schedule
January 11-13, 2013 – Musselman Honda Circuit – Tucson, Arizona
February 8-10, 2013 – Phoenix Kart Racing Association – Glendale, Arizona
March 8-10, 2013 – CalSpeed Karting – Fontana, California

The opening round in January will return to the demanding Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. The 0.8-mile course hosted the series for the first time in 2012 and provided great racing in all categories. The following month takes the series back to the 3/4-mile Formula K Raceway, operated by the PKRA organization. The location has been a schedule five of the last six seasons. The Challenge of the Americas will close out once again at the challenging CalSpeed Karting circuit. Situated in the parking lot of the Auto Club Speedway, the track gives a feel of a temporary course with the addition of curbing and multiple configurations options.

“We have found three very good partner tracks for our series. All three have the proper facilities and space for an event of the magnitude of the Challenge of the Americas,” stated Andy Seesemann, promoter of the Challenge of the Americas series. “The 2012 season was the first year that we avoided rain at all three events. We hope to continue that streak throughout the 2013 season.”

While the locations and facilities remain the same, the dates for the 2013 Challenge of the Americas program moved to early weekends in each of the three months. Rather than the traditional end of the month slot, the second weekend of each month will host the COTA events to avoid scheduling conflicts with other programs.

“We always try to be proactive with our schedule and coordinate with other popular series that take place in the same months,” continued Seesemann. “Thankfully, we were lucky enough to be able to move our events earlier to avoid any conflicts for our teams, tuners, drivers and staff.”

Once again, the Challenge of the Americas will award three tickets to the Rotax Grand Finals, the Olympics of karting. Since the series inception, it has sent at least one driver to the world championship for the Rotax Max Challenge. For the past three years, the championship drivers in Senior Max, Junior Max and DD2 have earned the ticket to represent their respective country at the event, and the tradition will continue.

Seesemann concluded, “We have welcomed many US and Canadian national champions over the years as well as former world champions, including Australian David Sera and Canadian Scott Campbell. Racing at the Challenge of the Americas is world-class with the many drivers, teams and the staff we assemble each and every year.”

For more information on the 2013 Challenge of the Americas events and to follow updates as the season draws closer, bookmark http://www.gatorzkarting.com

Full Throttle Karting Masters Max Saturday Recap
By Ekartingnews.com

Besides sponsoring the class, FTK team drivers Andy Seesemann and Paul Bonillia both competed in the class. The FTK duo were joined by fellow Arrow driver Scott Falcone as 3 of the top 5 positions were held by Arrow drivers.

Paul Bonilla (Arrow) continued to lead the way for the Masters category with Scott Roberts (Tony Kart) again on the outside of row one for their 20-lap Prefinal battle. Roberts grabbed the lead through the opening corner as Bonilla fell back to third behind Johnny Blair (Tony Kart) with Andy Seesemann (Arrow) in fourth. Blair, no stranger to rain racing, took over the point on lap two while Seesemann pressured Bonilla for the third position. Lap three, Seesemann secured the position and Bonilla fell into the grasp of Diego Pelosi (Formula K) and Jason Bell (Kosmic). Seesemann was the second quickest driver, as he closed up on Roberts and made a move for the position to began lap six. Pelosi then began pressuring Roberts for the third position. At lap eight, Blair’s lead was around six-seconds over Seesemann with Roberts holding off Pelosi, and a charging John Bonanno (Kosmic) up from ninth. Starting lap nine, Seesemann entered the esses and spun around to fall back to eighth. The same lap, Bonanno was able to work around Pelosi for what was now third and set his sites on Roberts until contact was made in turn seven. That dropped Bonanno down to sixth with Pelosi back to third, Bell up to fourth and Bobby Greene (Maranello), from 16th to fifth. The fight for second that included five drivers ran static for much of the middle portion of the race. They began dicing up for position with five laps to go with Pelosi still trying to find a way around Roberts with Bell, Greene and Rob Maier (Tony Kart) in the mix. Lap 18, contact left Greene out of contention when his engine shut off as a result from the contact. Blair would go on to score the win by over 12 seconds in front of Roberts. Bell finished third with Pelosi and Maier rounding out the top-five. Bonilla ended up seventh behind Bonanno while Seesemann dropped to 10th. Pelosi however would be penalized for a starting line infraction, dropping him to sixth in the order.

The Masters group welcomed clear skies for their Prefinal with Tony Kart drivers Blair and Roberts on the front row. The two broke away from the field with Bonanno leading Bonilla, Pelosi and Seesemann. Maier spun in the opening lap as did Bell – Maier fell toward the back of the field with Bell continuing on as well. More contact ensued with Bonilla getting caught up in Bonanno losing his chain at the exit of turn 10 while completing the second lap. Bonilla was put into the safety bags, but rejoined the race while Bonanno retired from the event. This moved Full Throttle Karting’s Seesemann up to third with Pelosi in fourth and Greene now up to fifth from 14th. Bonilla rejoined back in sixth, running just in front of Bell. Blair posted fast laps early on, getting away from the pack. Roberts ran second until Seesemann work by for the position at the start of lap six. Lap nine, contact between Pelosi and Roberts sent Roberts off track at the exit of turn seven. That put Roberts out of the race, moving Pelosi to third, Greene to fourth and Bell now fifth after falling back to 13th on the first lap. At the halfway point, Blair’s lead was just over four seconds in front of Seesemann while Pelosi clocked off his fastest lap of the race. Bell’s charge toward the front ended abruptly when he lost his chain on lap 13.

The hard charger now became Scott Falcone (Arrow). After spinning in the opening skirmish, Falcone ran laps consistent with the pace Blair was setting. After getting around Bonilla, the two ran down Green in the fourth position by lap 18. Once around Greene, Falcone put a few kart lengths on both. A few laps later, Bonilla followed suite to secure the fifth position. The field would run that way to the checkered flag as Rolison Performance Group driver Blair would secure the national championship by over nine seconds, posting his fast lap of the race on lap 25. Seesemann would finish a respectable second, his first podium visit since 2007 in Colorado. Pelosi put two Southern California drivers on the podium. KartSport North America driver Falcone came home fourth with Bonilla holding on for fifth. With the win, Blair earned a ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals to compete in the DD2 Masters category in Portugal.