The duo of Ben Cooper (SRA Karting/Birel) and Pier-Luc Ouellette (PSL Karting/CRG) hold four Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals titles between the two. So it was no surprise to see the two start on the front row for the final.
Cooper got a great start to take the early lead, while his teammate Christophe Boisclair (SRA Karting/Birel) slotted into second ahead of PLO. It took a couple laps for Ouellette to get by into second, and in that time Cooper was able to make a gap on his opponent.
With plenty of action going on throughout the field, including the retirement of the third Birel of Zachary Robichon (SRA Karting/Birel) from the fifth position, Cooper and Ouellette continued to post fast laps and pull away. At the halfway point, Cooper held a one second lead. But a couple slight mistakes allowed Ouellette to bite into his lead and with three laps to go, was right on his bumper. Diving to the inside of turn four, Cooper seemed caught a little off, allowing Ouellette to pull a couple kart lengths on exit. From there Cooper tried everything he could to get close enough to make a pass, but just didn’t quite have it, and the defending Grand Finals DD2 Champion scored the round one victory.
