Team Canada added three members to our squad for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals this past weekend at the US Rotax Max Challenge West in Phoenix, Arizona.
Competing in a weekend championship that featured two complete race days, one under the lights on Saturday night and the second under sunny skies on Sunday.
When the dust settled and the points were tallied, three Canadian drivers were crowned champions, with six more finishing as Vice-Champions, sweeping every category.
Courtesy of a dominant win on Saturday and a smart drive on Sunday, Jayden Francisco secured his first invitation to the Rotax Grand Finals and will race in Bahrain in Micro-Max. Under the lights, Francisco was unstoppable en route to the race win to jump out to an early points advantage.
On Sunday Francisco settled into second place behind his Ruthless Motorsports teammate and the two pushed away from the field. Knowing he only needed a second-place finish to secure the title, Francisco didn’t risk it and crossed the finish line just behind the race winner, celebrating his title with his arms in the air.
In Mini-Max, it was a similar story.
As the only driver in the field with previous Grand Finals experience, Christian Sanguinetti was determined to clinch another ticket early in the season. Sanguinetti was strong on Saturday, fending off his rivals and celebrating the race win under the night sky, building an early points advantage.
But Sunday’s race was a little tougher when his fellow Mini-Max racers upped the ante. Slotting into P2 off the start, Sanguinetti was in control of his destiny until a slight slip-up knocked him out of the lead pack and back to P4. Under pressure, Sanguinetti slipped back to fifth at the halfway and that would not have secured enough points for the title. But a bold pass with four laps to go regained him the fourth position and smooth laps to finish the race kept him in the right position to take the title, by the smallest of margins.
After competing in Italy last year, Sanguinetti, who impressively competed this weekend as a Privateer pitting out of a Uhaul, now gets to race in Bahrain this fall.
In Rotax DD2 the odds were very much in Canada’s favour as six of the seven competitors represented the Maple Leaf.
Saturday saw Gianluca Savaglio roar to victory under the lights, pulling away from a great battle between Griffin Dowler and Lucas Pernod. Dowler would get the upper hand at the finish, but Savaglio ended the night with the points lead.
Dowler put the pressure on Savaglio Sunday, but the Saturday race winner was able to extend his points lead with a win in the PreFinal. The pair then waged a great war in the Final race of the weekend, trading the lead and running nose to tail for the entirety of the race.
At the finish line, Dowler scored the race win, but Savaglio won the championship with a second-place finish and the ticket to Bahrain. It will be his third trip to the Gulf state to compete in Rotax DD2.
Dowler may have come up just short on two tickets this weekend, as he secured vice-champion in honours in both Rotax Senior and Rotax DD2. Unfortunately, his hopes of a ticket in Senior were dashed in the PreFinal when he was involved in a crash at the start. Forced to start the Final from deep in the 37-kart field, Dowler drove through the pack all the way to finish P2 in the race, his third runner-up finish of the weekend.
Canadians were very impressive in this weekend’s championship, securing six total race wins, 21 podium finishes and 12 championship podium results, including sweeping the vice-champion honours in all six categories.
- Rotax Senior Vice-Champion: Griffin Dowler
- Rotax DD2 Vice-Champion: Griffin Dowler
- Rotax Junior Vice-Champion: Cole Medeiros
- Rotax Mini-Max Vice-Champion: Joshua Wheeler
- Rotax Micro-Max Vice-Champion: Yousef Adi
- Rotax Masters Vice-Champion: Noel Dowler
- Rotax Junior 3rd in Championship: Nathan Dupuis
- Rotax Mini Max 3rd in Championship: Mateo Pai
- Rotax DD2 3rd in Championship: Lucas Pernod
Well done Canada. Now the next chances to Qualify for the Rotax Grand Finals will be at home through various championships including the Max Karting Group Canada Final, RMC Ontario, Canadian Open and maybe more…
