Savaglio Leads Team Canada Through Tricky Grand Finals Qualifying

Team Canada went straight from a weather-enforced day off to the most important laps of the week so far at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimão, Portugal. With Wednesday’s on-track action cancelled, drivers returned Thursday morning and went directly into qualifying without a morning warm-up.

The opening groups found a wet track before sunshine helped dry the circuit by the time Mini Max rolled out. The rain returned several times, catching the odd-numbered Senior Max group just as drivers left the pits and forcing a lengthy delay before DD2 Masters.

Gianluca Savaglio led the Canadian contingent in 15th overall in DD2, while Antoine Bazinet was 16th in Junior Max.

For much of Team Canada, the work starts in the heats. With the PreFinals removed from the revised schedule, three heats will determine who makes Saturday’s Grand Finals and where they line up.

Rotax E10

Maddox Pelletier and Giulio Berlinguet took a chance on slicks as the track began to come around, but there was still too much moisture to make the gamble pay off. Pelletier qualified 33rd, one spot ahead of Berlinguet, leaving both Canadians looking to gain ground in the heats.

Kir Ivanov of the United Arab Emirates took pole with a 1:19.213.

Micro Max

Grip continued to change throughout Micro Max qualifying. Tyler Chan led the Canadian pair in provisional 29th, with Zachary Losier qualifying 31st to line up just behind him in the heats.

Poland’s Artur Ernst secured pole with a 1:17.474.

Mini Max

Damp patches remained for the first Mini Max group, where Lincoln Lima posted the 26th-fastest time and Francesco Cosco ranked 31st. In the second group, Yousef Adi showed good pace but struggled to find the draft he needed for a quicker lap, settling for 13th in the session.

Adi led the Canadians in 25th once the groups were merged, followed by Lima in 50th and Cosco in 62nd. Britain’s Oscar Kenney took pole with a 1:05.091.

Antoine Bazinet and Leo Da Silva (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Rotax Junior

Marco Fazari saved his best lap for the end of the odd-numbered session, jumping from the lower half of the order to 15th. Olivier Chasse had a tougher run in the same group and finished 31st.

In the even-numbered group, Bazinet continued his strong week in Portugal with the eighth-fastest time, while Leo Da Silva ranked 18th.

Bazinet wound up 16th overall, with Fazari 29th, Da Silva 36th and Chasse 61st.

Lithuania’s Majus Mazinas claimed pole with a 1:00.603.

Rotax Senior

All four Canadians drew the odd-numbered session, and all four were caught by one of the day’s worst-timed showers. With only a few minutes remaining, drivers streamed out of the pits just as rain began to fall. Many struggled to get a clean lap in before the conditions changed.

Ayden Ingratta led the Canadians in 20th in the group. Noah Landry and Arnaud Sabourin were 25th and 26th, respectively, with Ryan Maxwell 30th.

Once the groups were merged, Ingratta ranked 40th, Landry 50th, Sabourin 52nd and Maxwell 60th.

Team USA’s Isaac Malcuit took pole with a 1:00.111.

DD2 Masters

A downpour delayed DD2 Masters qualifying, and when the session finally got underway, Zephyrin Dupain put himself 16th on the grid for the heats. Noel Dowler, who had spent much of practice inside the top ten, qualified 21st.

France’s Nicolas Picot set the pace with a 1:14.006.

William Bouthillier (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

DD2

Savaglio gave Team Canada a run at the top of the timing screen in wet DD2 qualifying. He held the quickest time for much of the even-numbered session, but as the track got quicker in the closing laps, he slipped to eighth. William Bouthillier recovered from a difficult start to the session, setting his best time on his final lap to climb to 11th. Griffin Dowler finished 31st in the group.

In the other session, Alexis Baillargeon qualified 20th in his group, while Alex Marcil Perron opened his Grand Finals debut with the 26th-fastest time in the group. Britain’s Kian Burnard secured pole with a 1:09.551.

When merged, Savaglio was 15th overall, Bouthillier 21st, Baillargeon 40th and Perron down in 52nd.

The first round of heats follows qualifying on Thursday, with two more on Friday. For the Canadians starting deep in the field, every position gained will count toward a place on Saturday’s grid.