Jensen Burnett has earned another chance to cross the Atlantic Ocean and compete in an international competition after scoring the victory in the Rotax Mini-Max Final on Sunday at the Motomaster Canadian Karting Championships.
The start of the Final at the Mosport Karting Centre saw Alexis Baillargeon (BCR/CL Kart) make an early move on Burnett (Energy Corse/Energy Kart) to gain the race lead, while Major Makovskis (PRO/CL Kart), Pearce Wade (Prime/BirelART), Lucas Deslongchamps (BCR/BirelART), Jackson Lachapelle (BirelART) and Edward Kennedy (TRT/Parolin) slotted in line of the lead pack.
Deslongchamps was also able to sneak by Burnett on the opening lap, but he slipped back to fourth when Burnett came charging back in corner ten to regain the second spot.
A few laps into the race and there was a four-kart train for the lead, followed by a three-kart pack just trying to hold on to the leaders.
On lap six, just as it looked like Baillargeon was opening up a small gap, Burnett got a huge run down the hill and sent it up the inside of the hairpin and regained the lead.
Behind them, Deslongchamps and Makovskis traded the third spot a few times and allowed the leaders to pull away.
Baillargeon didn’t let Burnett get away and he regained the lead with ten to go in corner ten. Burnett came back the next time with the same pass. Burnett opted not to defend and Baillargeon tried the same pass again in corner ten with seven to go, but this time he got in too deep and spun himself out.
Burnett carefully navigated around the spinning kart and instantly had a good-sized lead back to second while Baillargeon was able to return to the track in seventh.
The race was now on for second, with Makovskis doing his best to hold onto the position.
On the final lap, after defending through the hairpin, Deslongchamps raced Makovskis back up the hill into six. Holding the outside line of the double-left, Deslongchamps took the long way around but he made the pass stick for second place.
Crossing the finish line, Burnett scored his first Canadian Karting Championship and earned an invite to compete at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Bahrain. After a promising winter and spring season competing in Europe, Burnett will get another chance to take on the world’s best Mini drivers.
Deslongchamps made no mistakes after his pass and held on to second while Makovskis had to settle for third place, just ahead of Wade and Baillargeon, who had a nice comeback after his spin.
For his awesome pass, Deslongchamps was acknowledged with the Motul Smooth Move award, while Burnett was awarded the Champion Fine Tuned award for his winning efforts.
Motomaster Canadian Karting Championships – Rotax Mini-Max Final Results
