ECKC: Superb Rotax Junior Victory for Samuel Lupien Vaults Him onto Team Canada; Mazzaferro is Champion

After Saturday’s thriller in the epic battle for the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship Rotax Junior Vice-Championship, it all came down to Sunday’s Final. With Gianfranco Mazzaferro already as class champion and already a member of Team Canada for the Rotax Grand Finals, three drivers were all vying for the chance to join him in Spain as a member of Team Canada. Roman DeAngelis assumed the position by only 20 points from Alexandre Lacroix, with Samuel Lupien a further 7 back entering the day.

Mazzaferro led the way in the PreFinal over Nataël Cantin (KMS/Birel) while Lupien, Lacroix and DeAngelis completed the top-five, tightening the race within the race even more.

As the rain continued to fall the Juniors rolled off the grid for their Final. Mazzaferro jumped out to the early lead while Cantin fell back to fifth as Lacroix was up to second. Charging back forward Cantin easily disposed on DeAngelis and Lupien before attacking Lacroix on the back straight on lap three, but with Mazzaferro out to a decent lead it appeared things would settle down from there.

But an error by Mazzaferro and hard charging Cantin created an excellent battle for the lead as the two would also be joined by Lupien. With the crowd roaring at every move Lupien finally escaped in the lead at the halfway point.

With the laps winding down, Lupien created a safe gap over Cantin and Mazzaferro while Lacroix held station in fourth. DeAngelis was under attack from Raphael Forcier (KMS/Birel) and David Illavia (J3/Kosmic) further complicating his chances in the Championship.

The checkered flew to Lupien over Cantin and Mazzaferro. Lacroix crossed in fourth, Illavia fifth and DeAngelis all the way down in seventh.

Saturday Results | Sunday Results

The superb drive by Lupien to take the win also scored him enough points to overtake both Lacroix and DeAngelis in the final ECKC championship tally and with it, earn a ticket to join Team Canada at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Valencia, Spain. It is also worth noting that Lupien entered the weekend sixth in the championship standings.

For the Coupe du Quebec Championship, Samuel Lupien elevated to the top of the podium after his brother Cedrik was forced to withdraw this weekends event with a broken arm and surrender the championship lead. Cedrik held on to finish second overall with Cantin completing the podium.

An unforgettable weekend for Samuel Lupien earned him a trip to Spain to compete at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)