Sabourin Steals the Show in Rotax DD2 Final

For the fourth race in a row, Ludovic Sabourin has stood on the top of the Rotax DD2 podium. This past weekend was his biggest victory yet, saving his best effort of the weekend for the Final at the Canadian Open and earning himself a ticket to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals!

For most of the weekend, defending champion Lucas Pernod (PSL/BirelART) was in control, taking the SuperPole on Friday, winning all three heats on Saturday and lining up on the pole position for Sunday’s Final race. Alongside him was Gianluca Savaglio (REM/Kosmic), the PreFinal winner and a strong contender to overtake Pernod if the opportunity was presented.

Sabourin (BCR/BirelART) lined up on row two alongside Antoine Lacharite (SARS/Mac Minarelli). Both had shown great pace throughout the weekend but had yet to really challenge the top two.

That changed in the Final as Savaglio instantly attacked Pernod for the lead when the green flag flew and Sabourin was right there waiting for his opportunity.

That opportunity arose immediately as Sabourin overtook both Savaglio and Pernod on lap two to gain the early race lead with Savaglio also getting ahead of Pernod for P2.

Two laps later, Pernod retook the second position and started to close the gap back to Sabourin, putting the pressure on the race leader with Savaglio and Lacharite in tow.

Unable to pull off a pass, Pernod started to fade back from the race leader after the halfway mark and Savaglio took this opportunity to overtake on lap fourteen.

The top five didn’t change for the remaining five laps as Sabourin hit all his marks and pulled away to victory, the biggest one of his young career thus far. Savaglio finished in P2, his second Canadian Open podium of the day and Pernod had to settle for third. Lacharite and Lucas Nanji (HMP/Kart Republic) completed the top five.

With the win, Sabourin becomes the newest member of Team Canada and will join Olivier Bedard in Rotax DD2 this fall in Italy at the Rotax Grand Finals.

For the rest, there are only two more chances to qualify for Karting’s most sought-after race of the year. The Canadian Karting Championships in Hamilton, Ontario will award a ticket to the driver who accumulates the most points between the Canadian Open and the Canadian Championships.

In addition, the Max Karting Group Canada Final in Warburg, Alberta will award their Rotax DD2 race winner with a ticket and all three of the Canadian Open podium finishers are registered to compete in Western Canada.