After a decade of supporting the Rotax Max product line at the Challenge of the Americas, the series has switched their attention to the Vortex ROK lineup of engines for their program. The popular winter program that hosts races in Arizona and California announced today via Kart360.com.
There is no argument that the future of the Rotax Max Challenge in the USA is bleak following the departure of Richard Boisclair and Maxspeed Entertainment and it was apparent that COA owner Andy Seesemann needed to make a change for the future of his program.
According to the announcement, the series will offer tickets to the ROK Cup International Final as well as possible tickets to the ROK Cup USA Final with information about the program to come. There is also an engine trade-in program available to those looking to make the switch.
“On behalf of everyone at ROK Cup Promotions, Vortex and Bridgestone, I am pleased that we have Andy Seesemann, Full Throttle Karting and the Challenge of the Americas on board,” explained Director of Operations Garett Potter. “Andy is a major player in the karting industry and has run a successful series for ten seasons now on top of his kart shop business. His dedication to the karting community and willingness to help at every turn always puts a smile on racers faces. He continues to evolve his program to keep up with the times and found a perfect fit with the Vortex ROK powerplant and Bridgestone tires. We look forward to helping him build his series back to the numbers they once were only a few years ago under his new ROK banner.”
This is the first major move for the ROK Cup program in the western portion of the United States, with it now challenging SKUSA and IAME for market share in the region.
While this does eliminate the chance for Western Canadian teams and drivers to travel south for the winter months to compete with the Rotax Max product that are still heavily supported in this country, we are sure this was the best move for the Challenge of the Americas program.
