Mini Max Championship Decided in a Weekend of Twists and Turns

The Rotax Mini Max division was hotly contested this past weekend at the Max Karting Group Canada Final. This group of only 10 young drivers were all contenders each time they took to the track, and the racing was more like a high-speed chess match the way these kids put their talents on display.

With a few drivers from Western Canada being challenged by some of Eastern Canada’s elite, we learned early on that this championship would be impossible to predict.

Friday

Friday got off to a rocky start as the fastest driver in Qualifying, Mateo Pai (Prime/BirelART), went for a wild tumble in the opening laps of the Final, requiring a lengthy red flag. Thankfully, Pai was okay, and the Mini Max race resumed after the Senior Max to allow all of the competitors to repair their karts.

When the race resumed, Harrison Jeffery (DDRS/OTK) jumped out to the early race lead while his brother Heston (DDRS/OTK) fought for his life to maintain P2.

Heston was under pressure lap after lap from Lincoln Lima (Prime/BirelART), William Rosetti (Prime/BirelART), Massimo Lorusso (Premier Karting/CRG), Nicholas Lorusso (Premier Karting/TonyKart) and Joshua Wheeler (HM Propela).

Every time Heston was passed, he came right back the next corner to regain the position, and this allowed Harrison to pull away to a massive lead.

After 14 laps, Harrison won by 7 seconds while Heston just barely beat Lima to the finish line by 0.07 seconds. Rossetti and Nicholas Lorusso completed the top five, as all four crossed within 0.3 seconds of each other.

Harrison (196) and Heston Jeffery (106) lead the Mini Max field at the start (Photo by: Cody Schindel – CKN)

Saturday

The pair of Harrison Jeffery and Lima hooked up early in the Saturday Final to pull away from the field, and smartly, Lima stuck to the bumper of Harrison until the end to ensure the chasing pack could not close back in.

Once clear of Heston at the halfway point, Rosetti and Pai tried to push back to the leaders, and a small error by Lima when he tried to pass for the lead allowed them to close the gap on the final lap.

The error allowed Harrison to cruise to the finish line and celebrate his second race win. Lima maintained P2 while Rossetti held off Pai to return to the podium in his first race weekend since his injury earlier this season in Montreal.

However, some controversy formed at the scale line when Harrison initially came in under the minimum weight. Against the rules, Harrison’s mechanic touched the go-kart before it was cleared of the scales, and after a lengthy discussion that wasn’t cleared until Sunday morning, Harrison was disqualified from the race, awarding the victory to Lima, joined by Rossetti and Pai on the podium.

Sunday

The Jeffery brothers returned to action on Sunday, setting the fastest times in Qualifying, locking out the front row.

Rain during the PreFinal saw Lima dominate in the conditions and take the win to shorten the points gap going into the final race of the weekend.

Lincoln Lima was a master in the rainy conditions for Sunday’s PreFinal (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

This is where Heston upped his game and delivered the performance he needed to take home the title.

Leading from the start, Heston was under pressure from Rossetti for much of the race, but he never slipped. Even as the pack featuring Pai, Lima, Nicholas and Massimo Lorusso, Harrison and Wheeler all kept up with the race leader, Heston never surrendered the race lead long enough to lose control.

Rounding the final corner and crossing the finish line as the race winner and the champion, Heston pumped his arms in celebration.

Rossetti did cross in P2, but had a pushback bumper knock him all the way back to P9. Pai inherited the runner-up result with Nicholas Lorusso getting his first podium trophy of the weekend in P3. Harrison and Wheeler completed the top five, while Lima slipped back to sixth and saw the championship slip out of his hands.

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Winning the title by 27 points, Alberta’s Heston Jeffery will join Team Canada for the first time and compete at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Bahrain later this year.

Lima will return home as the Canada Final Vice-Champion in both Micro and Mini Max and contend for the RMC Ontario and RMC Quebec titles in hopes of joining Jeffery on Team Canada. Pai recovered from Friday’s accident to claim an impressive P3 result in the championship while Rossetti and Nicholas Lorusso completed the top five in the final standings.

Heston Jeffery – Rotax Mini Max Canada Final Champion (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)