Bedard Steps Up to Take Micro Max Championship

Entering the final weekend of the 2022 Max Karting Group Canada Final in Warburg, Alberta, two drivers were tied for the points lead in the Rotax Micro Max division and with a ticket on the line to join Team Canada at the Rotax Grand Finals, one driver stepped up and pounced on the opportunity.

British Columbia’s James Bedard (RaceLab/TB Kart) put forth an impressive performance over the weekend at the Rotax Mojo Raceway, qualifying on the front row and capitalizing to win all three of the heat races. This opened up a gap going into Sunday’s main events, where he just needed two solid finishes to take home the title.

He kept his foot on the pedal and drove home a convincing 3.2-second margin of victory to seal the deal and earn himself the opportunity to compete in Portugal this fall.

Christian Sanguinetti (TonyKart) was the fastest qualifier, but he had some trouble on the starts that Bedard was able to take advantage of, but he recovered nicely on Sunday and finished second in the Final. Everleigh Kozakowski (RK/Ventisimo Kart) entered the weekend tied with Bedard, but she ran into some hurdles on Saturday. She too had a nice recovery on Sunday to finish on the podium but had to settle for vice-champion.

It was a three-kart race for second place in the final with Pieter Hoogland (TonyKart) just missing out on the podium while Max Chi (BBR/Falcon) rounded out the top five.

The Grand Finals will be Bedard’s first invitation to join Team Canada and be a part of the 40 best Micro-Max drivers from around the world going for the elusive Rotax Grand Finals title.

Round one winner Alexis Baillargeon was absent from the Warburg round after scoring his Team Canada invitation at the Canadian Open two weeks prior.

Max Karting Group Canada Final at Warburg Rotax Micro Max Final Results