Team Canada Opens the Heats in Portimão

Gianluca Savaglio delivered Team Canada’s best result in Thursday’s opening round of heat races at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portimão, Portugal. After losing ground early in his DD2 heat, Savaglio fought back to fifth, pulling off some of his best passes around the outside of the double left-hander at Turns 9 and 10.

The rain that complicated qualifying continued to shape the racing. A light shower greeted the Mini Max field just after it left the grid, and a downpour hit the first Junior Max heat with the entire field on slicks. By the time Rotax Senior, DD2 Masters and DD2 went racing, everyone was on rain tires.

Rotax E10

After a gamble on slicks cost him in wet qualifying, Maddox Pelletier made up 13 positions in just six laps to cross the line 19th. Penalties moved him up another five spots to 14th in the final results.

Giulio Berlinguet started on rain tires, but the track stayed dry. He pulled off after two laps to save his only set of wets for later in the event and was classified 36th.

Micro Max

Zachary Losier stayed clear of the early trouble and gained eight positions to finish 25th on track, moving up to 23rd after penalties. Tyler Chan was running 28th when a mid-race crash dropped him to 33rd. He was classified 32nd after penalties, and the damage forced him to change his chassis after the race.

Yousef Adi (140) leads a group on track. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Mini Max

All three Canadians lined up in the A vs. B heat, where light rain began falling just after the field left the grid. Yousef Adi made the most of the opening lap, picking up seven positions to reach sixth before finishing ninth.

Lincoln Lima and Francesco Cosco both recovered ground after a difficult qualifying session, finishing 18th and 24th, respectively.

Rotax Junior

Marco Fazari was hung out wide in the opening laps of the A vs. B heat and dropped to the back. Olivier Chasse gained a couple of positions at the start before heavy rain arrived two laps in, leaving the entire field to navigate a soaked track on slicks. Fazari fought back to 27th at the flag and moved up to 25th after penalties. Chasse spun in the difficult conditions and finished 34th.

The C vs. D field started on rain tires. Antoine Bazinet moved up to sixth early and finished ninth, while Leo Da Silva recovered from an early setback to cross the line where he started in 18th. Pushback bumper penalties were assessed to 23 of the 36 drivers, including both Canadians. Bazinet held ninth in the final results, while Da Silva dropped to 19th.

Antoine Bazinet navigating the wet track (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Rotax Senior

Noah Landry was the lone Canadian in the A vs. B heat and had already picked up ten positions when contact sent him spinning at Turn 3 on lap four. He fell to the tail of the field and recovered to 30th at the finish.

In C vs. D, Ayden Ingratta traded positions throughout the race and crossed the line 13th. Arnaud Sabourin gained nine spots to finish 17th on track, while Ryan Maxwell crossed the line 26th. Pushback bumper penalties dropped Ingratta to 14th and Sabourin to 19th, while Maxwell moved up to 25th in the final classification.

Ayden Ingratta in Senior Max (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

DD2 Masters

Noel Dowler gained three positions to finish 15th in the opening DD2 Masters heat. Zephyrin Dupain slipped to 22nd on track and moved back up to 20th after penalties ahead of him. Both Canadians showed pace in practice and have one more heat to work their way closer to the top ten.

DD2

William Bouthillier got away well in his first Grand Finals heat, but was forced off track while avoiding a spinning kart. He lost 11 positions in the incident and crossed the line 22nd. Griffin Dowler, who suffered a shift linkage failure in qualifying, gained seven spots to finish 24th on track. Pushback bumper penalties dropped Bouthillier to 23rd and Dowler to 25th in the final A vs. B results.

In C vs. D, Savaglio’s charge to fifth led the Canadian trio. Alexis Baillargeon gained one spot to finish 19th, while Alex Marcil Perron picked up three positions to finish 23rd in his first Grand Finals heat.

Marco Fazari battling the wet track on slick tires. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Racing resumes Friday with one heat remaining for E10, Micro Max and DD2 Masters. Mini Max, Junior, Senior and DD2 each have two more heats to decide who makes the 36-driver grids for Saturday’s Grand Finals.