Sarno, Italy – Salutes and welcome to the 20th edition of the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals (RMCGF) hosted at the international acclaimed Circuito Internazionale di Napoli in Sarno. This year we are celebrating our 20th anniversary in this beautiful region of Italy, which is well known for its rich cultural heritage sites, the wonderful Amalfi Coast and very good Italian food. The prestigious race event will see 360 drivers from almost 60 countries competing this week to be on the top of the podium.
On Friday the early registration started in the Hotel Saturday at the track and about a third of the racers already found their way in. The bigger crowd arrived on Saturday, got through a really smooth registration process and enjoyed some drinks and snacks in the beautiful area of the hotel during the waiting time.
Today, at sunrise, the amazing line-up of more than 360 brand new karts from Rotax’s Official Chassis Partners (BirelART, Praga, Sodikart and CompKart) was silently waiting on the main straight with the beautiful Vesuvius in the background. Soon the track was alive and buzzing as the all the teams from each country arrived for their official photos.
Afterwards, the kart raffle started, so all the chassis’ together with the brand new Rotax engines were allocated to their drivers where everybody is given the same opportunity to compete with the same materials. Along with this they also received all the tools and equipment they need to assemble their karting packages in the massive driver tent in preparation for their first on-track day tomorrow.
Not only were the karts were being prepared for the track action but, each class also had a driver’s briefing where they were introduced to the Race Director and his team and were informed about what to expect when they take part in the Non-Qualifying practices tomorrow.
The Welcome Party will be held tonight at the soccer-fields of the track for drivers and supporters as well as the organization team and the chassis partners. This party will also see the annual team contest and the qualifying rounds of the MOJO tyre changing contest. The teams will be judged based on the drivers’ team spirit, the uniformity of their team wear and their overall passion for their homeland. Starting on Monday, you can vote for your favourite team on our facebook page. The winning team – with the most likes on Facebook, along with the jury’s approval – will be announced next Saturday night at the driver’s party.
