It was a solid weekend of results for our Canadians competing in the Rotax Euro Trophy Finale at the PF International Circuit in the United Kingdom.
The fourth and final round of the Euro Trophy determined the ticket winners of the most competitive Rotax program in Europe. It was a dry weekend right up until the finals on Sunday afternoon when rain came pouring down, forcing the Juniors, Seniors and DD2 to drive on a wet track for the first time of the weekend.
Leading the way, Lucas Pernod scored his best result in Europe, finishing third in the Rotax DD2 Final. Starting the race in sixth, the wet conditions challenged everyone and he fell back as far as eleventh before charging back forward. Pernod advanced all the way to a podium position aboard his KR Sport / Kosmic machine. After securing his ticket at the Canadian Open, Pernod will be part of Team Canada at the Rotax Grand Finals in Bahrain.
Three canucks were competing in the electric racing program from Rotax. Utilizing the Rotax E20 machines, Antoine and Frederique Lemieux contested as Juniors while Andy Lloyd raced as a Senior.
The Lemieux’s competed in both of the Euro E20 races this year and while their results didn’t show in the Final on Sunday, Antoine’s efforts throughout both events were enough to be crowned the Junior E20 European Champion by a mere point. The pair finished fifth and sixth in the Final after starting from third and sixth on the grid.
With Antoine already qualified to compete in Mini Max at the Rotax Grand Finals, Frederique was awarded a ticket to compete in E20 Senior in Bahrain, making them the second pair of siblings on Team Canada this year to go along with Lucas and Timothy Pernod.
Andy Lloyd has moved to the UK for school and took this great opportunity to try out the E20 package from Rotax. After coming to grips with the electric beast, Lloyd progressed all weekend long and finished seventh in the Final amongst the 13 Seniors.
Finally, two more Canadians were competing with KR Sport this weekend as Canadian Open Senior Max Champion Laurent Legault and Mini Max third-place finisher Rayan Ghandour returned to Europe for some more international competition.
Taking on one of the most competitive Senior Max classes we’ve seen, Legault drove to a 17th-place finish in the Final. It was a similar result for Ghandour, who wound up 14th in the Mini Max Final, his best result of the European season.
This coming weekend will be the final chance for drivers to Qualify for the coveted Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at the US Trophy Final in Indiana. There are more than 100 racers from North America set to compete at New Castle Motorsports Park for invitations to compete for their country in Bahrain.
