Grand Final Tickets Distributed at Rotax Max Challenge Türkiye

The most valuable prize of the season that closed in the Gulf, tickets extending to the Grand Final in Portugal, were distributed to young karting pilots.
The most valuable prize of the season that closed in the Gulf, tickets extending to the Grand Final in Portugal, were distributed to young karting pilots.

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With the last two rounds held in Körfez, Kocaeli, the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Türkiye season was completed and the drivers who earned the right to compete in the Grand Final in Portugal were determined. In E10 Mini, the tickets went to Bulut Tırınk and Can Aras Akgün, while in Micro Max, İlmen Yılmaz finished the season in first place and Yiğit Nedim Çelik in second; in Junior Max, however, the champion's name will not be announced until the appeal against the Round 2 results is resolved.

Highlights

  • Rounds 3 and 4 of the season October 10-11, 2026 were run at the TOSFED Körfez Karting Track.
  • In total, across four categories, 21 drivers competed; entry for spectators was free.
  • In E10 Mini, the Grand Final tickets went to Bulut Tırınk and Can Aras Akgün.
  • Senior Max champion Arda Şansal earned the right to the 2027 RMC International Trophy (Le Mans).
  • The RMC Grand Final will be held November 7-14, 2026 in Portimão, Portugal.

Who got the tickets to the RMC Grand Final?

At the end of the season, two definite names are Portugal-bound: in E10 Mini, Bulut Tırınk , who finished first in the overall standings, and Can Aras Akgün, who took second place, earned the right to compete in the RMC Grand Final, to be run in Portimão on November 7-14. This duo's ticket was clear under the prize plan announced before the season ended, and it was made concrete with the races in Körfez.

On the Senior Max side, the prize map looks a bit different: Arda Şansal , who completed the season in first place, earned the right to compete in the RMC International Trophy, to be run at Le Mans in 2027 instead of Portugal. For someone who has followed this series for many years, this distinction is not unfamiliar; in the Rotax system, every category's prize does not lead to the same door - some are sent to Portimão, others to the international trophy.

The real question, though, is Junior Max. The season winner has the right to compete in the Junior Max class at the Grand Final; however, the season results will be announced after the appeal against the Round 2 results is resolved. So, for now, the ticket holder remains unnamed. It was known that, ahead of the final in Körfez, the points of the top four drivers were very close to one another, which makes the outcome of the appeal significant. Not naming a definite driver certainly reduces the excitement of the news, but this is the right approach: proclaiming a champion before the numerical picture becomes clear would go against the traditions of this sport.

How were the last two rounds in Körfez run?

Körfez'de 21 pilotun tek bir sıra değişikliğiyle altüst olabilen genel klasmanı, kartingin ne kadar ince bir denge yarışı olduğunu gösterdi.

The season's closing rounds on October 10-11, 2026 were run at the TOSFED Körfez Karting Track, organized by the Tuzla Motorsports Club with TOSFED's support. This short but technical track in Güney Mahallesi was the third and final stop of the series' 2026 calendar, after Bursa and Tuzla, Istanbul. The program also followed the classic karting rhythm: on both days, qualifying sessions began at 11:10 in the morning, and the final races started at 16:05.

In total, across four categories, 21 drivers start was sold and spectator entry was free all day. In the past, karting finals used to run with more crowded grids; today the number of categories has increased, while the grids have been split into tiers. In return, the density at Körfez was evident from the points proximity we will mention later: even a single position to be gained among 21 names could turn the general classification upside down.

The winners of the rounds spread out as follows: in Micro Max, having won both days, İlmen Yılmaz took victory. In E10 Mini, Bulut Tırınk, in Junior Max Erin Ünlüdoğan, and in Senior Max Arda Şansal was the winner of the rounds. The Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport team also shared the podium appearances of Yılmaz's and Tırınk's victories in Micro Max and E10 Mini respectively in the final two rounds; the two steering wheels of the team roster at the season finale were thus added to its record.

İlmen Yılmaz's season in Micro Max

The top three of the Micro Max general classification shaped up as İlmen Yılmaz, Yiğit Nedim Çelik and Agah Giray Gönenç. Yılmaz's season was, in a word, one of dominance: in Round 4, run on Sunday, October 11, he won all of his races, finished the day in first place, and closed the season with this superiority. At this age category, consistency tests the pit wall's planning as much as driving ability; Yılmaz finishing both days with victory shows more than an ordinary weekend performance.

As for Yiğit Nedim Çelik on the second-place step of the podium, he is a name well known in the karting community. The driver of BOM Karting Team, Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport's karting team, won the 2025 Dubai O Plate in the Comer category, and had won a championship in the Bambino category in Dubai when he was only six years old. Within this season, he also finished first in the Micro category at the Istanbul round of the Motul 2026 Türkiye Karting Championship, and was remembered as the winner of the micro category final in Tuzla. The season runner-up position at Körfez made this standard sustainable.

A note for those curious about the background: in the 2025 RMC Türkiye season, Can Aras Akgün had finished Micro Max first with 322 points, Çelik second, and İlmen Yılmaz third. In other words, the ranking of these three did not merely reverse in a single season - it changed completely. This table is the most concrete proof of how much a season can change in karting at these age groups; the development curve is read on a year-by-year basis.

E10 Mini: the electric category's first season

The novelty of the 2026 calendar was the E10 Mini category. This class, raced with Rotax-developed and FIA-approved electric karting motors, was included in the Türkiye program for the first time this year. For a generation that grew up with an internal combustion Rotax engine, this is a small but meaningful threshold: the kart on track is the same, the sound heard is different. It is no prophecy to say in advance that the names of the drivers who earned their ticket in the category's first season will be talked about a lot tomorrow; the first champions of a new class hold an easy place in memory.

Meanwhile, a small coincidence note: Can Aras Akgün, who finished second in E10 Mini, was last year's Micro Max champion. Seeing the rise from category to category and the process of determining the first generation of pilots in a new electric class on the same person sums up the series' age structure.

RMC Grand Final in Portimão: date and format

The 26th edition of the RMC Grand Final will be held on November 7-14, 2026 at the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal. The Rotax series is described as the world's most widely contested single-brand karting series, run in 60 countries; at the Grand Final, up to 400 of the world's best Rotax drivers meet on the same track. This event, lasting nearly a week, is the international final gathering of a single-brand series.

Türkiye's history with this event goes back a long way. In the 2010 season, Senior and Masters champions Gün Taşdelen and Kerem Zengin were sent to the final in Italy; at the 2023 final held in Bahrain's Sakhir, 396 drivers took the start. So a Turkish driver racing in Portimão will enter the pit lane with the awareness of carrying on a tradition spanning more than three decades. How many names Türkiye will send this year will become fully clear once the Junior Max objection is resolved; two names from E10 Mini are guaranteed, the rest uncertain.

The karting season isn't over at the Körfez circuit

The end of RMC Türkiye is not the end of the season for the Körfez circuit. The TOSFED Körfez Karting Circuit will also host on October 24-25 the final round of the MOTUL 2026 Türkiye Karting Championship. Some of the drivers who barely closed out their season at RMC will, two weeks later, take to the same asphalt for the national championship's finale. A single circuit hosting the closing rounds of two separate series in one season is an indicator of how intensively the regional karting infrastructure operates.

One small detail at the close: at the end of Round 4, it was planned that a new Rotax engine would be given to one participant by lottery as part of the event. Such prizes have their real impact especially on the family budgets in the young categories; engine costs remain the heaviest item in karting's entry price.

The season's closing balance

The 2026 RMC Türkiye season has passed with a short but intense calendar defined by four rounds and three circuits. In E10 Mini, Tırınk and Akgün's tickets are confirmed, in Senior Max Şansal's Le Mans visa has come through, and in Micro Max Yılmaz's superiority is clear. The only open link is the Junior Max championship; once the objection is resolved, the passenger list to Portugal will be complete. We will follow the Turkish drivers' performance in Portimão in the second week of November.

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