Cooper O'Clair grabbed the victory in Senior MAX, earning the Rotax Grand Finals ticket (Photo: EKN)

The 2025 Race Rotax RMC USA West event came to a close on Sunday after another picture perfect day of weather at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association. The second day of racing at the Glendale, Arizona shifted from afternoon to night conditions, with the second round contested in morning and afternoon hours. The combination of the two days of racing is what would determine who earned the 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals tickets for Bahrain would go to. Two of the winners on Sunday celebrated earning their spots to the ‘Olympics of Karting’ with victories on Sunday, including Senior MAX driver Cooper O’Clair, making his fifth straight trip to the international event.

The Senior MAX category with 37 drivers were split up into two groups of qualifying once again, based on the times from the final practice on Friday. Saturday winner Blake Nash (REM / EOS) came in with the provisional fast time from Group B before local driver Micah Hendricks (Croc Promotion) laid down a 45.385 lap to secure fast time. Nash ended up fourth overall behind Macy Williams (CB / Tony Kart) and Canadian Griffin Dowler (Apollo / Redspeed). Hendricks was able to get away at the start of the Prefinal as chaos ensued behind him. Contact sent Nash off on the outside of Daytona while Dowler and Timothy Pernord (Prime / Birelart) got collected in the middle of the track, sending everyone scattering around them. The contact for Nash damaged his engine, leaving him without power and putting him 33rd – taking away the hopes of the Rotax Grand Finals ticket. Dowler continued and ended up 22nd after 14 laps. Up front, it was Cooper O’Clair (CompKart) coming up from ninth after running down Hendricks to take the race win, bringing Antoine Lemieux (REM / Kosmic) with him. The start of the 18 lap Final saw more carnage in the opening two corners, this time it started mid-pack as the leaders got away cleanly. Nash was sent off into the dirt in Daytona and continued on, eventually recording the fast lap of the race with a bent axle, placing 25th. Up front, Lemieux jumped out to the lead over O’Clair with a lead pack forming behind them. O’Clair took back the lead on lap three, and fighting behind him providing the breathing space he need. The Phoenix based driver led the remainder of the race unchallenged, taking victory over one second. The story was watching Dowler put in a phenomenal drive in an effort to gain as many points possible after the Prefinal wreck. He took advantage of the opening lap skirmish to be up to 11th by the end of lap one. From there, he picked off drivers one by one, reaching third by lap 13. He battled with Lemieux for the runner-up spot, coming up just short at the line to finish third. However, Lemieux was penalized 10 seconds for jumping the start, that dropped him to 14th in the final results, promoting Dowler to second and Pernod, following him up through the field as well into third. Mark Newson (Overdrive / Exprit) made it three Canadians in the top-five, placing fourth ahead of Hendricks.

When the results were finally tallied, O’Clair gathered the most points over the two days of racing to claim the 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals ticket with 499 points. 19 points back was Dowler in second with Hendricks placing third overall, back by 42 markers. Lemieux ended up fourth with a total of 419. Going from second to 14th in the Sunday Final cost him 96 points, which would have put him at the top of the standings by 16 markers over O’Clair.

Griffin Dowler held on for victory in DD2 (Photo: EKN)

The action in DD2 was a battle all day between Saturday winner Gianluca Savaglio (REM / Kosmic) and Griffin Dowler (Apollo / Gillard). Savaglio struck first in qualifying with a 45.174 to edge out Dowler by 14 thousandths of a second. The top four, including Lucas Pernod (Prime / Birelart) and Macy Williams (CB / Exprit) were all within 39 thousandths. Savaglio was able to hold off Dowler for the win in the Prefinal, extending his point lead heading into the main event. Needing to just finish, Savaglio did not get the start he wanted and fell back behind Dowler as the green flag waved for the Final. He was on the bumper of Dowler all race, making his move for the lead on lap 12. Dowler responded the following lap, and held the top spot for the remainder of the race to claim the victory. Savaglio settled for second with Pernod joining them for an all Canada podium. Williams and 2025 Rotax Winter Trophy champion Matthew Taskinen (Prime / Birelart) completed the top-five.

Savaglio gained 595 points over the two days of racing to claim the 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals to become the second Team Canada member with a ticket to Bahrain. Dowler was second, back by 43 points with Pernod, the top qualifier on Saturday, finishing third overall in the standings.

A strong Sunday performance by Cole Medeiros in Junior MAX (Photo: EKN)

It was a Sunday sweep performance by Canadian Cole Medeiros (REM / Kosmic) in the Junior MAX category. Medeiros set fast time in qualifying with a 45.532 lap to edge out Nathan Dupuis (BBR / Tony Kart) by 83 thousandths. The top two battled early before Medeiros secured the top spot in the Prefinal. Cole was able to get away again in the Final as Dupuis and four-time Team USA member Gage Korn (MPG / Kart Republic) battled for the second spot behind him. The gap closed up at one point, however, the fight for second continued to allow Medeiros to run without challenge for the lead. In the end, Medeiros took the victory by just under one second. Korn was able to lock in the second spot with two laps remaining, while Saturday winner Kyle Drysdale (Ruthless / Exprit) was able to get past Dupuis for the third step on the podium with a last lap move. Achilles Siperko (BBR / Tony Kart) completed the top-five.

The late move for Drysdale to third helped him to secure 550 total points over the two days, placing him first overall to claim the 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals ticket to Bahrain. The pass gave him 15 more points, going from fourth to third, which ended up being the difference between he and Medeiros in the final standings. Had the two drivers tied, Medeiros would have taken the ticket. Dupuis finished third in the standings with 512 points.

Phil De La O dominated the action in Masters MAX on Sunday (Photo: EKN)

The Masters MAX class saw a sweep on the day as well. Saturday winner Phil De La O (Mach 5 / Tony Kart) went unchallenged all day for a sweep of the sessions. His 46.311 lap was better by over a tenth over the 12 driver field in qualifying as De La O jumped out to a 1.6-second advantage in the Prefinal with heavy battling for second behind him. Another clean start and smooth opening lap gave De La O the early advantage, and he kept putting down consistent laps to extend out to a four-second gap after 18 laps to claim the second victory on the weekend. Veteran Billy Cleavelin (Ruthless / LN Racing Kart) held off the field for second with fellow former Team USA member Laurentiu Mardan (MERC / Tecno Kart) completing the podium in third. Noel Dowler (Apollo / Tony Kart) was fourth with Christopher Mann (Ruthless / Exprit) in fifth.

De La O finished the two day total with 585 points, as the Phoenix resident will make his third trip to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, first in DD2 Masters after racing Senior in 2012 and Junior in 2008. Dowler was second in the standings while Mann placed third.

Mateo Phi ran away with the victory in Mini MAX (Photo: EKN)

A second driver was able to sweep the Mini MAX category on Sunday. Mateo Pai (Prime / Birelart) came out with fast time in qualifying, posting a 48.713 lap to edge out Saturday winner Christian Sanguinetti (Racelab / TB Kart) by only 48 thousandths. Pai was able to break away from the field in the Prefinal, winning by over one second as Joshua Wheeler (Ruthless / Nitro Kart) got Sanguinetti for the second spot. The Final was all Pai, as he went wire-to-wire to complete the sweep on the day, winning by nearly half a second. Wheeler held the second spot while Conner Lypka (CompKart) joined them on the podium in third. Sanguinetti slipped back to fourth early and was battling with Tyson Underwood (CompKart) throughout the race. Sanguinetti needed the spot to maintain the point lead, and held on to the checkered flag to win the fight for fourth.

A member of Team Canada in 2024, Sanguinetti earned his second straight trip to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, gaining 547 points over the two days. Wheeler was short by just seven points, finishing second overall while Pai moved up to third in the final standings.

Wire-to-wire victory for Lucas Tarango in Micro MAX (Photo: EKN)

The top two in Micro MAX led the way all day. In qualifying, Saturday winner Jayden Francisco (Ruthless / Nitro Kart) led the way with a 49.470 lap, quicker than Lucas Tarango (Ruthless / Nitro Kart) by 56 thousandths. The two ran away in the Prefinal as Tarango got the edge on Francisco in the 12-lap run. It was all Tarango in the Final as he went wire-to-wire in the 16-lap main event, grabbing the victory. Francisco never left his wingman, pushing Tarango the entire distance to make it a 1-2 finish. Lincoln Lima (Prime / Birelart) overcame an broken throttle in the Prefinal to climb his way from 13th to third, beating out Yousef Adi (Prime / Birelart) for the third step on the podium. Jack Klym (BBR / Falcon) won the battle for the fifth position.

Francisco was able to secure 590 points over the two days, earning his ticket to Bahrain for the 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. Adi ended up second in the standing with Tarango third, suffering the DNF in the Saturday main event.

Tickets to the 2025 Rotax Grand Finals – scheduled for November 29 to December 6 at the Bahrain International Karting Circuit – have been awarded, with three members joining Team Canada and three more to Team USA. More tickets are set to be awarded later this year on USA soil with Race Rotax planning for another event on September 19-21 at the New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, Indiana. Details surrounding the event and other information will be announced at a later time.

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