Lanzillotta Capitalizes on Junior Chaos to Claim Canadian Open Crown

If there was one class that perfectly summed up the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Canadian Open, it was Rotax Junior.

Nothing came easy.

The weekend featured dominant performances, controversial incidents, dramatic comebacks, championship pressure and a race-winning penalty that completely reshuffled the podium after the checkered flag.

When it was all over at SRA Karting Mirabel, Stefano Lanzillotta (Prime Powerteam/RedSpeed) stood atop the podium as the Canadian Open Champion, while Antoine Bazinet (Pfaff Kartsport/Gillard) survived one of the wildest Finals of the season to capture the RMC Ontario championship and earn his place on Team Canada for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.

The result was far from predictable.

Throughout the season, Rotax Junior has been one of Canada’s most competitive divisions, with drivers from Ontario and Quebec trading victories nearly every weekend. Entering the Canadian Open, Bazinet held the advantage in the RMC Ontario standings, but Marco Fazari (Racing Edge Motorsports/Kosmic) and Oliver Chasse (Prime Powerteam/RedSpeed) remained firmly in championship contention.

From the opening session, however, it looked as though Chasse had found another gear.

He claimed SuperPole on Friday before sweeping all three heat races on Saturday, rarely putting a wheel wrong and appearing untouchable at the front of the field.

Championship Sunday told a completely different story.

The morning SuperHeat quickly turned into the most competitive race of the weekend. Chasse led early before Leo Da Silva (Racing Edge Motorsports/Kosmic) found a way past on lap five, igniting an intense battle for the lead. Moments later, contact between the pair in the chicane spun Chasse across the circuit, while Nicholas Lorusso (Premier Karting/TonyKart) was forced into a spin trying to avoid the incident.

Da Silva carried on to cross the finish line first ahead of Bazinet, while Fazari snatched third from Lanzillotta on the final lap. But the drama wasn’t over. Da Silva received a penalty for the contact with Chasse, while Chasse, who recovered to tenth on the road, was penalized for an unsafe re-entry and dropped to 12th.

The stage was perfectly set for an unpredictable Final.

Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN

Bazinet and Fazari occupied the front row, but Chasse wasted little time charging to the front. By the end of the back straight on the opening lap, he had taken command of the race ahead of Bazinet, William Rossetti (BCR/OTK), Joshua Wheeler (Racing Edge Motorsports/Kosmic), Fazari and Lanzillotta.

Then everything unravelled.

On lap four, a battle just outside the top five erupted entering the penultimate corner. Three karts arrived side-by-side, braking far too late before plowing into the back of the lead pack. The chain-reaction collision scattered contenders in every direction.

Chasse and Rossetti escaped the carnage, while Lorusso expertly threaded his way through to emerge in third. Bazinet and Fazari weren’t nearly as fortunate, both being forced off the circuit. Bazinet suddenly found himself all the way back in 19th, and the championship battle was turned upside down in an instant.

With clean air ahead, Chasse looked poised to finally convert his dominant speed into victory, steadily building a gap over Rossetti.

But the race had one more twist.

Lorusso climbed into second on lap nine before setting the fastest laps of his weekend in pursuit of the leader. Within two laps of the finish, he had erased the deficit and was glued to the back bumper of Chasse’s RedSpeed.

The pressure mounted immediately.

Lorusso looked for an opening at the end of the straight but couldn’t complete the move. Instead, he stayed tucked underneath Chasse through the technical section, and entering the tight penultimate corner, contact between the pair nudged Chasse just enough off line for Lorusso to seize the lead with just one lap remaining.

Behind them, Lanzillotta saw his opportunity.

While Chasse regrouped after losing the lead, Lanzillotta slipped past in the closing corners to grab second as Lorusso raced across the finish line believing he had secured the biggest victory of his career.

Moments later, the results changed.

Race officials assessed Lorusso a five-second penalty for the contact that produced the winning pass, dropping him down the order and promoting Lanzillotta to Canadian Open Champion.

Olivier Chasse, Stefano Lanzillotta and William Rossetti on the Canadian Open podium (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Chasse ended up second while Rossetti enjoyed his best drive of the season to finish on the podium in P3. Lorusso and Da Silva completed the top-five.

It was a fitting reward for a driver who had quietly remained in contention all weekend before capitalizing when the opportunity mattered most.

Behind the fight for the race win, the championship battle produced an equally remarkable story.

After being buried deep in the field following the lap-four incident, Bazinet mounted an inspired recovery, climbing back to eighth on the road before post-race penalties elevated him to sixth in the official results. Those valuable championship points were enough to secure the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Ontario title and with it, a coveted ticket to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.

Fazari recovered to finish just behind Bazinet in the race and the championship standings, earning vice-champion honours, while Chasse’s dominant speed throughout the weekend was rewarded with third in the final championship despite the heartbreak of championship Sunday.

Antoine Bazinet celebrates his Rotax Grand Finals ticket (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

If the Canadian Open was any indication of what’s to come, the Rotax Junior division is far from finished delivering unforgettable racing.

The championship may be settled, but the calendar isn’t slowing down. The class now turns its attention to three major events in three consecutive weekends: the US Trophy Final in New Castle, Indiana, the RMC Canada West Championship in Strathmore, Alberta, and finally the Canadian Karting Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, where coveted Rotax Grand Finals tickets will be up for grabs.