Savaglio Locks Into Rotax Grand Finals in Orlando

The first member of Team Canada for the 2023 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals is confirmed as Gianluca Savaglio locked down his ticket at the Rotax Winter Trophy in Orlando, Florida.

Competing in a back-to-back weekend doubleheader, Savaglio scored the most points he could in the Rotax DD2 division, including a weekend sweep in the opener in Loxahatchee, to punch his ticket to the Grand Finals, his third in a row.

After getting his first Rotax Grand Finals experience in Bahrain in 2021, he will head back there this fall for the 2023 edition, hungry for the podium after coming one spot short in his first attempt.

“It means a lot to me to qualify for this year’s Grand Finals. It will be my third consecutive year going and I’m very excited to be representing Canada once again. In 2021 I did very well in Bahrain finishing in fourth place, so I am comfortable with the track and excited to compete with the world’s best DD2 drivers once again!

Being the first series in North America to get a ticket to the Grand Finals I took full advantage. It’s an honour to be the first Canadian on Team Canada and I can now focus on perfecting my driving. It also relieves a lot of stress for the rest of the season.”

With the maximum number of points gained in the first round, Savaglio was smart in round two, and while he wasn’t victorious in the Final, he managed his points lead and ensured he never surrendered more than he needed to.

Amongst the six ticket winners in Orlando, Savaglio was joined by Rubens Barrichello and Eduardo Barrichello as the first to qualify for the major event.

A number of Canadian drivers took part in the Rotax Winter Trophy and a couple more were very close to winning a ticket like Savaglio.

Antoine Lemieux was a race winner in round one but came up just short of the championship in the hotly contested Mini Max division. Another was Nathan Dupuis in Junior Max. He scored a pair of podium finishes and pushed as hard as he could to get into championship contention but he also came up just short of the title.

Rotax racers in Canada will have a number of chances to qualify this season for the Rotax Grand Finals. Out west, racers can look to the Max Karting Group Canada Final, with races in Alberta and British Columbia, while in Quebec the Canadian Open will be the place to Qualify. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the past two Canadian Karting Championships have also been qualifiers to help determine the seats on Team Canada as well.

Finally, Canadians can compete internationally for tickets too with the US Trophy Final will take place in New Castle, Indiana on September 14-17.