Diego Ramos locked up the Senior MAX victory with a last lap move (Photo: EKN)

The second half of the 2026 Rotax RMC Winter Trophy began on Saturday at the Speedsportz Racing Park with the third round of action taking place. A sunny but cold and windy day greeted the over 110 drivers in the six Rotax categories at the New Caney, Texas facility, with temps only reaching the mid 40’s before going back down as the sun set to close out the action. Three drivers were able to clinch their third win over the three rounds, securing their tickets to the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal while the Senior MAX category featured its third different winner as former series champion Diego Ramos pulled off another late race move to secure the victory.

Canadian Ayden Ingratta (REM / Kosmic) earned his second top qualifier honor of the program to begin the action in Round Three for Senior MAX, laying down a 52.276 lap to edge out Round One winner and 2025 Rotax Grand Finals champion Macauley Bishop (Pfaff / Gillard). Bishop was able to beat out Ingratta for the Prefinal win by only six hundredths with Round Two winner Oliver Hodgson (Factory Karts) third, Ryan Maxwell (Prime / Tony Kart) fourth and Brazilian Diego Ramos (PSL / Birelart) in fifth. Bishop led the way for the first 17 laps of the Final as Ingratta sat second for much of the race. After halfway, Ramos had worked his way up to the second spot but Ingratta – having fell back to fourth – fought forward again and continued to the front, taking over the lead on lap 18. Taking the white flag as the leader, Ingratta was overtaken by Bishop, who then saw Ramos slip by in turn eight, going from third to first with Hodgson following through for second. It was a near replay of the action from the Friday main event, only this time on the final lap. Ramos held on to take the victory and had no penalties, keeping the win to become the third different winner. Hodgson finished second with Bishop locking in a third podium result with a third place over Ingratta. William Bouthillier (REM / Kosmic) completed the top five.

Billy Musgrave locked up a third straight win in DD2 (Photo: EKN)

It was not an easy day for Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) in the DD2 category. Canadian Lucas Pernod (PSL / Birelart) ripped off a lap of 51.390 to secure fast time in qualifying, nearly two tenths quicker than Musgrave. The two battled in the Prefinal with Musgrave crossing the line first, only to suffer a pushback bumper penalty. This dropped him to sixth in the order and promoted Pernod and Theo Kekati (Factory Karts) to the front row for the Final. The original start to the Final was red flagged when stray dogs ran out onto the circuit. Thankfully, none of them were stuck by a kart as officials quickly through the red flag and chased the animals off the facility. The race was restarted with Kekati jumping out to a big lead early on as they battled for second. Eventually Pernod and Musgrave caught Kekati, who suffered a mechanical issue and retired after relinquishing the lead. Once Musgrave took the lead on lap six, he began to drop fast laps of the race to establish a small enough gap to not be challenged. Pernod responded, recording the fast lap of the race, but not consistent enough to really pressure Musgrave. In the end, Musgrave drove to his third victory, provisionally securing the series championship and his first ever ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals. Pernod was second with Gianluca Savaglio (REM / Kosmic) a close third. Matthew Taskinen (Kart CRG USA) and Alexis Baillargeon (Platto / CS55) made it four Canadians in the top five.

Big victory of Benym Abernethy in Junior MAX (Photo: EKN)

Junior MAX welcomed a third different winner over the three events completed thus far. William Vetor (JHDD / Kart Republic) put his name into the hat with fast time in qualifying, recording a 52.946 lap to edged out Benym Abernethy (HDD / Tony Kart) and Round Two winner Aidan Hammond (Prime / Redspeed). The Prefinal was a battle over the course of the 13 laps with Vetor securing the top spot late, getting away to a half second advantage over the large group battling for second that saw Abernethy earn the spot. At the start of the 20-lap Final, Vetor was shuffled down the order quickly, falling out of the top five with the opening laps as Abernethy and Darren Kidd (MDR / LN Kart) locked up at the front. They were eventually run down by Nicholas Lorusso (Prime / Tony Kart) – who took over the lead on lap eight, bringing a group of drivers with him. Lorusson led for a couple of laps before Kidd and Abernethy reclaimed the top two spots again. They worked to be able to get away from the rest of the pack as Lorusso was caught up and fighting for the third spot. With space out front, Kidd led Abernethy until coming to the white flag when Abernethy made his move. He drove a defensive line throughout the final circuit, holding off Kidd the entire distance. At the line, Abernethy celebrated his first career Rotax victory. Kidd finished second with Round One winner Leo Da Silva (REM / Kosmic) winning the battle for third over Olivier Chasse (Prime / Redspeed) and Enzo DiGennaro (Parolin Motorsport USA), up from 18th to fifth, pushing back Lorusso to sixth.

Gabriel Zughella secured a third straight victory in Masters MAX (Photo: EKN)

Argentina driver Gabriel Zughella (HRT / EOS) celebrated his third straight victory in Masters MAX on Saturday. He began back in fifth after qualifying with Mundy Loyer (Evolution / EOS) earning another top qualifier honor with a lap of 53.648, with the top four of Christopher Mann (REM / Kosmic), Billy Cleavelin (REM / Kosmic) and Henry Taleb (HRT / Tony Kart) all within a tenth. From fifth, Zughella worked his way up to the lead by lap four and led the rest of the way for the Prefinal win over Cleavelin and Mann. The main event was a wire-to-wire victory for Zughella – a podium finisher at the 2025 Rotax Grand Finals – as he secured the series championship and his ticket back to compete in the DD2 Masters category. The victory was by three seconds as Cleavelin and Mann battled for the runner-up spot on the final circuit. Mann got sideway trying to find a way past Cleavelin, which allowed Loyer to close in through the final corners and beat out Mann at the line for the third spot behind Cleavelin. Taleb completed the top five.

A third victory in Mini MAX for British driver James Roots (Photo: EKN)

Mini MAX also celebrated a drive to win for a third time in three rounds as James Roots completed a second sweep of the category. A 55.046 lap put Roots at the top of the order, clearing the 16 driver field by over two tenths. He led wire-to-wire in the Prefinal with Kimo Ahmad (IRM / Benik) winning the battle for second. Ahmad challenged Roots in the first half of the Final, taking the lead on lap five. Roots however reclaimed the top spot on lap seven, and from there drove away to a one-second advantage to claim his third win on the series, and the provisional championship for the ticket to the 2026 Rotax Grand Finals. Mason Brody (RPM / Nitro Kart) drove up to second with Hudson Howard (JHDD / Kart Republic) in third. Ahmad was fourth at the line but a pushback bumper penalty dropped him down to eighth, promoting Dutch Westbrook (Team Benik) to fourth and Yousef Adi (JHDD / Kart Republic) to fifth.

Arthur Rhodes was named winner in Micro MAX (Photo: EKN)

The Micro MAX victory was once again settled off track after a wild closing lap in the Final. In qualifying, Jack Kotowski (TKG / Birelart) to edge out Round Two winner Freddie Baker (RCE). Baker was shuffled back at the start of the Prefinal with Wiley Lee (Team Benik) jumping to the lead. Kotowski would take over on lap four, and go on to win over Lee with Max Santana (Team Benik) in third. Kotowski, Lee and Baker each took turns leading over the first half of the Final with Santana and Dusty Strayer (Parolin) right there. Eventually Baker was shuffled back to fifth and lost the draft, leaving four at the front led by Kotowski. On the final circuit, Santana tried to take the lead from Kotowski in turn eight. They both pushed wide, with Santana getting the worst of it and went off course, ending his race. Lee was able to pull the over / under on the two, taking the lead and going on to cross the line as the provisional winner over Kotowski and Strayer. Lee was given a three second penalty for jumping the start, handing the win to Kotowski. After the race, a protest was filed and Kotowski was penalized for ‘failure to give racing room.’ Strayer also received a five-second penalty for contact, and thus the top three all had penalties. This promoted Round One winner Arthur Rhodes (RCE) to the top of the podium after crossing the line in fourth, with Baker promoted to second. Lee was classified third over Kotowski and Strayer.

The fourth and final round will be contested for the 2026 Rotax RMC Winter Trophy at Speedsportz Racing Park with another cold day forecasted, hosting a warm-up, qualifying, Prefinal and Final to determine the remaining championships and hand out the six tickets to the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.

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