Dupain Seizes His Moment to Earn First Team Canada Berth at Canadian Open

The wait is over for Zephyrin Dupain.

After years of racing against some of Canada’s most accomplished Rotax veterans, Dupain (PSL Karting/BirelART) finally earned his place on Team Canada, capturing the Rotax DD2 Masters title at the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Canadian Open and punching his ticket to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.

It was a victory that didn’t come easy.

Standing between Dupain and the biggest win of his career were four former Team Canada representatives, all looking to make another trip to the Grand Finals. Throughout the weekend at SRA Karting Mirabel, it was Pier-Luc Ouellette (PSL Karting/BirelART), Marc-Andre Levesque (HMR/OTK) and Sebastian Bernier (HMR/OTK) who set the pace, trading blows through Qualifying, the heat races and Sunday’s SuperHeat.

The trio managed to keep things clean despite the intensity of the competition, but with a Canadian Open title and a coveted Grand Finals ticket on the line, everyone knew the Final would be different.

Marc Andre-Levesque (537) and Pier-Luc Ouellette (501) lined up on the front row for the Final (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

It didn’t take long.

Starting from the front row, Ouellette and Levesque went wheel-to-wheel into the final braking zone on lap two. Contact between the two sent Levesque spinning, instantly reshuffling the order. Before the field could even complete another corner, Bernier made contact with the rear of Ouellette entering turn one, sending both drivers into a spin.

In the space of just two corners, the three pre-race favourites had gone from battling for victory to fighting simply to recover.

Waiting to capitalize was Alexandre Gauthier (CRT/OTK).

Gauthier inherited the lead and quickly built a comfortable advantage while Dupain settled into second, knowing the race was far from over.

As the laps clicked by, Dupain steadily reeled the leader back in.

Just before halfway, the PSL Karting driver made his move, slipping past Gauthier on lap 11 to take over the race lead.

From there, he never looked back.

Driving with the confidence of a champion, Dupain steadily stretched his advantage before putting an exclamation mark on the performance with the fastest lap of the race on lap 20. Two laps later, he crossed the finish line as the 2026 Rotax Max Challenge Canadian Open Champion, securing the biggest victory of his career.

Gauthier completed an impressive drive to finish second, while Tyler Givogue (CEF/Formula K) won an entertaining battle for the final podium position ahead of Yannick Hurtubise (HMR/OTK). Pascal Acquaah (ETI Racing/BirelART) rounded out the top five, while Ouellette recovered from his early-race incidents to salvage sixth.

Alexandre Gauthier, Zephyrin Dupain and Tyler Givogue on the Canadian Open podium (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

For Dupain, however, the result meant much more than a Canadian Open trophy.

By defeating a field that featured four former Team Canada members, he earned the honour of wearing the Maple Leaf for the first time and will represent Canada this fall at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.

Sometimes, all you need is an opportunity.

When it arrived on Sunday at Mirabel, Zephyrin Dupain made sure he didn’t let it slip away.

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Rotax DD2 Masters Final Results