The 2012 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals concluded today with the final races for all the competing classes. Today’s weather had made a complete 180 degree U-turn from yesterday and provided a dry track and softer winds to help out with today’s racing. It was the day to make dreams come true for any Rotax racer. Over 300 drivers here at Kartódromo Internacional Algrave in Portimão, Portugal have been here for over a week and today was the day that counted for all the marbles. Four categories had to run their pre finals and finals to determine who would be the Grand Finals Champion. There was no doubt today’s racing would be incredible.
Rotax Senior Pre Final
Jesse Lazare would lead the Canadian charge into the fourteen lap pre final. Starting from eighth spot, Lazare was an arms reach away from positioning himself with a amazing starting spot for the final. The speed was definitely there, it was just a matter of surviving the pre final. In an attempt to advance forward, Lazare stuck his nose in to make a move in turn two and the other driver closed the door hard. Lazare would move his kart over the apex curb of turn two and touch the water on the red and white painted surface and spin off the course and drop to twenty-eighth. Marco DiLeo would gain a spot from this misfortune and race his way from twenty-first to fourteenth. Lazare would recover to twentieth.
Rotax Senior Final
The green light went live and all thirty-six karts took off, both Canadians Di Leo and Lazare safely made it through the opening lap. Di Leo would advanced through the chaos over the next few laps to make it to as high as eighth in the early half of the race. Some wheel to wheel contact would cause Di Leo to lose some momentum and dropped back to twelfth at the midpoint. For a majority of the race, he would run on his own with no-one around, but Di Leo didn’t give up. He was for sure hoping that the group in front would battle and lose ground. The last lap was wild for majority of the top ten, Di Leo would catch the group in the final corner, but it was too late to make anything of it and would finish twelfth. Lazare’s race didn’t go as planned as he was turfed off on the second lap and would spend the whole race playing catch up. His pace was fast, but the damage was done, Lazare was only able to get back to sixteenth spot.
