Blake Nash dominated the racing in Senior MAX (Photo: EKN)

The 2025 Race Rotax RMC USA West event held the first day of action on Saturday at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association. It was perfect weather at the Glendale, Arizona facility, with a slight breeze throughout the day while the action ran from 1pm local time to 8pm, with the majority of the main events held under the lights. The Prefinal action was hotly contested the competition shifted in the Finals, where five of the six races were decided early.

The Senior MAX category was dominated by California driver Blake Nash (REM / EOS), making his first start in the category after spending much of 2024 in Europe racing OK division. Nash missed out on the five bonus points for qualifying P1 by only 15 thousandths of a second as local driver Micah Hendricks (Croc Promotions) – who posted a 45.396 for fast time. Nash jumped out to the lead in the Prefinal on the opening lap and powered away to a near two-second advantage over Canadian Griffin Dowler (Apollo / Gillard). It was the same in the 18-lap Final with Nash escaping with a big lead early as they fought for second behind him. Early on, it was Dowler and Hendricks battling for the spot before others joined in late. At the end of the 18 laps, Nash secured the victory by over four seconds with Dowler winning the battle for second ahead of fellow Canadian Oliver Mrak (REM / Kosmic). Mrak was handed a 10 position penalty for contact, dropping him to 13th and promoting fellow Canadian Antoine Lemieux (REM / Kosmic) to the third step of the podium. Timothy Pernod (Prime / Birelart) was fourth with Hendricks ending up fifth.

Gianluca Savaglio ran away with the victory in DD2 (Photo: EKN)

The speeds up front in the DD2 category were close throughout Friday and into Saturday. Lucas Pernod (Prime / Birelart) set fast time with a 45.014 lap to clear Gianluca Savaglio (REM / Kosmic) by 33 thousandths. Pernod led most of the Prefinal until Savaglio was able to slip past lap to claim the top spot and the pole position for the Final. Savaglio went wire-to-wire in the Final, leading all 18 laps to claim the victory by nearly three seconds. Griffin Dowler (Apollo / Gillard) held off Pernod for the second spot while Matthew Taskinen (Prime / Birelart) was a close fourth. Macy Williams (CB / Exprit) – the lone USA driver in the field – complete the top-five.

Kyle Drysdale was named winner in Junior MAX after penalties (Photo: EKN)

Junior MAX was the first category on the track for the day’s action and in qualifying, local driver Xander Malatesta (Ruthless / Exprit) set the fast time in qualifying with a 45.961 lap, only nine thousandths quicker than 2024 US Trophy West series champion Gage Korn (MPG / Kart Republic). The top five were all within 96 thousandths of a second. In the Prefinal, Canadians Cole Medeiros (REM / Kosmic) and Nathan Dupuis (BBR / Tony Kart) led before Kyle Drysdale (Ruthless / Exprit) took over late and scored the race win. The 18-lap Final began with Drysdale leading before Dupuis took his turn at the point. Lap six began a fight between Korn and Drysdale for the top spot, eventually seeing Korn grab the spot. His lead grew when they began fighting for the second spot, that would go in the hands of Dupuis by lap 12. The next few laps, Dupuis cut into the lead of Korn, reaching his back bumper with two laps to go. A move in turn four gave Dupuis the lead as Korn lost ground during the pass. On the final lap, Korn closed up on Dupuis down the long back straight. Entering turn 12, Korn dove to the inside of Dupuis and the two made contact. Korn went up and over the front end of Dupuis, but was able to power away, reaching the line first as the provisional winner. Drysdale got through for second with Dupuis third and Mason Kuhn (CompKart) in fourth. Officials penalized Korn for the contact, three seconds to drop him down to eighth in the order, handing Drysdale the victory. Dupuis and Kuhn completed the podium with Medeiros fourth and Colt Schlotthauer (Croc Promotion) in fifth.

Run away victory for two-time Team USA driver Phil De La O in Masters MAX (Photo: EKN)

It was a great battle in the Prefinal for the Masters MAX division, led by top qualifier Clayton Kesler (CompKart), Noel Dowler (Apollo / Gillard) and Christopher Mann (Ruthless / Exprit). The field made their way through the opening corner to start the 18-lap Final, with the contact pushing all three wide. This allowed Phil De La O (Tony Kart) to navigate his way past for the lead. Within a couple corners, he was out to a solid lead. He kept the pace going through the entire distance, reaching the checkered flag first for the four-second advantage. Mann was able to hold off Dowler for the second spot with Kesler back in fourth ahead of Josh Sarchet (Tony Kart).

Wire-to-wire victory for Christian Sanguinetti in Mini MAX (Photo: EKN)

It was a sweep of the action in Mini MAX as Christian Sanguinetti (TB Kart) scored the victory on Saturday. A 48.616 lap put him at the top the order in qualifying, clearing the 12 kart field by over a tenth. In the Prefinal, it was Mateo Pai (Prime / Birelart) jumping out to the lead and the provisional win, however, a jump start penalty of 10 seconds dropped him down to eighth and gave Sanguinetti the win. After early battling in the 16-lap Final, Sanguinetti secured the top spot and was able to lead all but one lap in his drive to the victory. Joshua Wheeler (Ruthless / Nitro Kart) won the battle for second over Harrison Jeffery (Kartel / LN Racing Kart) while brother Heston Jeffery (Kartel / LN Racing Kart) was fourth. He came across the scales underweight, promoting Tyson Underwood (CompKart) to fourth and Sebastian Johnson (FDM / Pantano) into fifth.

Micro Max sweep for Jayden Francisco on Saturday (Photo: EKN)

A perfect score over Saturday action in Micro MAX by Canadian Jayden Francisco (Ruthless / Nitro Kart). His lap of 49.694 was quickest by 99 thousandths over local driver Lucas Tarango (Ruthless / Nitro Kart). Tarango led one lap in the Prefinal but it was Francisco crossing the line first. As they field hit the track for their 16-lap Final, Tarango’s engine was struggling to run, forcing him into the pit lane before the green flag. This allowed Francisco a clear run to the victory, driving away to a 10-second advantage. Lincoln Lima (Prime / Birelart) won the battle for second with Yousef Adi (Prime / Birelart) joining them on the podium in third. After pushback bumper penalties, Jack Klym (BBR / Falcon) and Parker Henesey (Croc Promotion) rounded out the top-five.

Three USA drivers and three Canadian drivers split the victories on day one. A repeat of the action will be contested on Sunday, completing the second half of the journey to the six tickets up for grabs to the 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Bahrain.

Share on Facebook

Tweet