Colligan Charges from the Back to Win Wild Rotax Micro-Mini Final

A strong group of 23 youngsters filled up the grid in Rotax Micro-Mini Max at the Coupe de Montreal in Mont-Tremblant. The challenging conditions in Qualifying saw all but one driver roll onto the circuit with treaded rain tires. The lone driver to opt for slicks was Yousef Adi (REM/Kosmic) and it took him a few laps for him to build some temperature into his MOJO tires and for the track to come to him, but in his final few laps of the session, he managed to post the fastest time and take the pole-position.

Adi led the group in the opening laps of the PreFinal until a mechanical failure ended his race early, surrendering the race lead on lap two. Nicholas Lorusso (Premier/OTK) clutched the lead on lap two and led until lap seven when Jayden Colligan (PSL/BirelART) came charging from last on the starting grid to gain the lead. He would take the heat win, but was issued a 10-second penalty for dangerous driving in the pit lane that relegated him back to P13. Brodie McDonell (CEF/Formula K) and William Dion (ETI/CL Kart) benefited from the penalty to score front row starting spots for the Final.

There was a little confusion on the starting grid before the Feature race as both Nicholas Lorusso and his brother Massimo (Premier/CRG) opted for fresh rain tires, moving them to the rear of the grid. With a shortened 12-lap Final, it was a gamble, but after two sessions of mixed track conditions, most of the tires on the grid were in rough shape.

Rotax Mini Max podium from left to right: Mateo Pai, Jayden Colligan and Nicholas Lorusso (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

McDonell and Dion traded the lead in the opening laps of the race, with Lincoln Lima (Prime/BirelART) keeping close with the leaders. With another spirited drive, Colligan was up to P3 by lap four and catching the early race leaders. By lap 8, he overtook McDonell for the lead and never looked back, pulling away to a 2-second margin of victory.

McDonell tried to hold on to P2 but Mateo Pai (Prime/BirelART), who travelled all the way from British Columbia, overtook him with two laps to go. McDonell lost his momentum and slipped back to P6 in the process as Lima, Nicholas Lorusso and Giulio Berlinguet (BCR/BirelART) all got by.

Lorusso was the fastest in the final laps of the race but just ran out of time to catch Pai for P2, with both drivers posting their fastest laps of the race on their final tour. Lima and Berlinguet completed the top five in the action-packed race.