Sanguinetti and Sonoda Win Their First Tickets to the Grand Finals

Two young drivers will get their first chance to compete on the global stage this fall after taking home the title at the Max Karting Group Canada Final in Warburg, Alberta over the weekend.

Yutaka Sonoda from Washington and Christian Sanguinetti from Alberta were crowned the Micro and Mini Max champions after a competitive weekend on the EDKRA Rotax Mojo Raceway and were rewarded with invitations to represent their country at the upcoming Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Italy.

The Micro-Max battle all weekend featured a pair of American drivers duking it out for the race wins and the overall title and ultimately it was winning both PreFinals that helped determine the champion.

Sonoda (BBR/Kubica Kart) had a perfect day on Saturday, fending off any challenge that Cam Becker (Apollo/Race Factory) threw at him. The pair also had to contend with Charles Teo (BirelART) in the opening laps as he slipped up the inside of both drivers in corner two to take the early race lead. Sonoda was able to get by Teo first and by the time Becker worked his way back to P2, the race leader had a healthy lead that he managed to the checkered flag.

Becker stepped it up on Sunday with the pole position in Qualifying but Sonoda charged back to the top in the PreFinal to add to his points total. In the Final, Becker was finally able to take a win away from Sonoda, getting ahead on lap four, but it wouldn’t be enough to close the gap in the championship race.

With the pair both having a Final win, but Sonoda having both PreFinal wins, the advantage went his way and he was crowned the Canada Final Micro Max champion, scoring his first invite to the Rotax Grand Finals. Behind Becker, Harrison Jeffery (Praga) would rank as the highest Canadian driver in the championship thanks to his third-place finish in Sunday’s Final.

Micro Max Champion Yutaka Sonoda (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

In a very competitive Rotax Mini Max field of 17 competitors, featuring a number of racers from Eastern Canada, two Western Canadian drivers had dominant race days, but only one was able to prevail for the title.

On Saturday, Lennox Campbell (SCR/CL Kart) swept all three competitive sessions. Sanguinetti was the only driver to challenge him in the Final, taking the race lead in the opening laps until Campbell recovered the position in corner one and never looked back en route to victory. Sebastian de Moissac (Paradise/BirelART) was a distant third place followed by Brando Londono (EOS Kart) and Olivier Chasse (Paradise/OTK).

Sunday was a different day for Campbell. Mateo Pai (BBR/Falcon) led the way in Qualifying over Sanguinetti, Dylan Lambert (Paradise/CL Kart) and the Campbell.

In the Prefinal, Sanguinetti notched the win over Lambert while Campbell had two incidents that knocked him down the running order and eventually to the sidelines after contact with Pai.

This shifted the championship points going into the final race of the weekend and with a lights-out performance, Sanguinetti led every lap of the main event to take the race win and the championship.

Lambert remained close to Sanguinetti but couldn’t close the gap to attempt a pass and finished 0.3 seconds back after 12 laps. Third place went to Pieter Hoogland (OTK), who had a podium finish going on Saturday until the final lap when a mechanical issue forced him to the sidelines. Massimo Lorusso (KGR/CRG) was third for most of the race until Hoogland overtook with three laps to go, while Campbell recovered nicely with a P5 finish to hold on to P2 in the championship.

Third in the title race went to Sebastian de Moissac (Paradise/BirelART), who edged out Londono by 1 point and Lambert by 2.5 points for a spot on the championship podium.

Mini-Max Championship Christian Sanguinetti (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)