Pernod Has a Perfect Weekend in Rotax Senior

Putting in a perfect weekend wasn’t easy for Timothe Pernod (PSL/BirelART) as a very talented Rotax Senior category was tight at the top.

A blistering lap in Qualifying started his weekend off on the right foot with the pole position but it was no easy feat in the races.

With 43 drivers, Rotax Senior was split into two PreFinals. Pernod had to fend off Ryan Maxwell (REM/Kosmic) and Lucas Deslongchamps (TAG/CRG) in PreFinal A to maintain his front-row starting spot for the Final. In a tense PreFinal B that did have a red flag stoppage, William Bouthillier (HM Propela/Kart Republic) overtook his teammate Lucas Nanji (HM Propela/Kart Republic) and Gianluca Savaglio (REM/Kosmic) for the win.

A quick Sunday morning Last Chance Qualifier saw Thomas Simard (PSL/BirelART) slip through the field and take the win as the top six finishers transferred to the Final.

The opening laps of the Final saw Pernod leading Maxwell with a small gap back to Bouthillier and Deslongchamps, with major scrapping behind for fifth place.

Bouthillier came to life in the middle segment of the race and overtook Maxwell and then Pernod for the race lead. The pair traded the lead for five straight laps until Bouthillier settled back into second place with Maxwell right in the mix as well.

With three to go, Maxwell slipped by Bouthillier for second place and pressured Pernod to the finish. He tried a deep lunge up the inside into the final hairpin, but couldn’t get his kart slowed enough for the apex and Pernod crossed him over. Bouthillier was also able to slip by just before the checkered flag flew.

Cruising alone for most of the race, Deslongchamps was fourth to the finish line while Nanji completed the top five after Savaglio received a penalty for contact to knock him down the finishing order.

This was a great preview of what’s to come at the Canadian Open and with a few more drivers expected to contend for victory, we’re in for a great battle for a Rotax Grand Finals ticket in just over a month.

William Bouthillier, Timothy Pernod and Ryan Maxwell (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)