Bazinet Flawless at RMC Ontario Opener!

The first major Rotax race of the Canadian season showcased a number of drivers who are vying for a spot on Team Canada as RMC Ontario took to the track this weekend at the Hamilton Karting Complex for their first of four races on the Path to Portugal.

With 29 drivers on the entry list and incredibly close lap times in practice, there was no sure standout going into the race weekend.

That changed quickly on Saturday as Antoine Bazinet (Pfaff/Gillard) blistered off not one, but two lap times that were good enough to top the charts and earned the CKN Pole Position award. Stefano Lanzillotta (Prime/Redspeed) recorded the second fastest time as the six drivers behind Bazinet were separated by less than 0.1 seconds.

Through the two heat races on Saturday, Bazinet was in cruise control, easily taking both victories while the battles went on behind him. Marco Fazari (REM/Kosmic) and Olivier Chasse (Prime/RedSpeed) finished second and third in heat one, and swapped the positions in heat two.

On Sunday, the pressure built and Chasse was finally able to overtake Bazinet in heat three and scored the final heat win. Fazari added another top-three finish, and the grid was set for the Super Heat.

The best battle of the weekend took place in the Super Heat as five drivers mixed it up for the win. Bazinet and Fazari traded the lead early until Chasse took his turn at the top. It didn’t last long until Bazinet went back to the lead, but in this race, he had to fight until the checkered to keep it, just barely beating Chasse, Ryker Magro (Ultra Kart Canada/Ultra Kart), Fazari and Nicholas Lorusso (Premier/TonyKart) to the finish line.

The start of the Rotax Junior Super Heat (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

With the points tallied, Bazinet and Chasse shared the front row for the Final while Fazari and Magro shared row two.

A great launch helped Bazinet lead through the opening corners while Fazari attacked Chasse for P2.

Behind, a big crash mid-pack ended the race early for Asher Pavan (AMP’d Racing/LN Kart), Rory Baziuk (REM/Kosmic), Niko Werner (Firano/TonyKart) and Roy Chang (Goodwood/Exprit). Thankfully, all four were okay after some heavy contact and a couple of airborne karts. The melee forced a number of karts to take the grass around, and that really separated the pack early.

Out front, Bazinet opened an early gap while Chasse fought off Fazari, but by the midway point of the 25-lap main event, Chasse and Fazari had closed back in on the race leader, coming within a kart length.

Bazinet never made a mistake or presented an opportunity to Chasse, and as the laps began to wind down, Chasse started to fall back from the race leader. Eventually, Fazari had had enough and made his move for P2 with three laps remaining, but Bazinet was out of reach by then.

Celebrating his first major victory, Bazinet threw his hands in the air at the finish line as the crowd cheered.

Chasse fought back on the final lap to retake the runner-up position from Fazari, who then had to fight off Lanzillotta, who made a great comeback after a rough go in the heats, to maintain his spot on the podium.

Completing the top five was Robert Tronchi Jr (REM/Kosmic), who just narrowly held off Magro and Carlo Lot (Prime/RedSpeed).

Rotax Junior Podium (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Rotax Junior Final Results