Team Canada added three more members for the 2022 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals at the US Rotax Trophy Final in New Castle, Indiana.
It was the last chance for drivers in North America to earn a ticket to the prestigious race and thus, a number of Canadian drivers pounced at the opportunity to compete for tickets.
Lucas Deslongchamps came up just short of victory in the Rotax Mini Max Final, but his second-place finish scored him the ticket. After competing in Bahrain last year, Deslongchamps will make his second RGF appearance on Team Canada.
In the hotly contested Rotax Senior division, Daniel Ali and Jason Leung finished the main event in third and fourth place and were both awarded tickets to compete in Rotax DD2 at the Grand Finals.
Ali will make his second start at the Grand Finals and first in DD2 while Leung has competed in the RGF a number of times, including a podium in Sarno, Italy in 2019, but this will be his first time in Rotax DD2.
With the addition of three drivers, Team Canada will have 19 drivers competing in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimao, Portugal this November.
Qualifying from the Max Karting Group Canada Final were: James Bedard (Micro), Antoine Lemieux (Mini), Ziming Wang (Junior), Kevin Foster (Senior), Matthew Taskinen (DD2) and Jared Freeston (DD2M). Four drivers qualified at the Rotax Canadian Open: Alexis Baillargeon (Mini). Ryan Maxwell (Junior), Patrick Woods-Toth (Senior) Lucas Pernod (DD2). Finally, at the Canadian Karting Championships six drivers were added to Team Canada: Brando Londono (Micro), Edward Kennedy (Mini), Jensen Burnett (Junior), Adam Ali (Senior), Olivier Bedard (DD2), Pier-Luc Ouellette (DD2M).
Some updates to the roster have occurred since these drivers won their tickets. Gianluca Savaglio will replace Patrick Woods-Toth in Senior Max and Alexandre Gauthier will replace Pier-Luc Ouellette in Rotax DD2 Masters.
Lining up a great team of drivers, Team Canada will once again in contention for the Nations Cup podium.
