Laurentiu Mardan swept the Master Max division on Sunday of the Rotax Winter Trophy (Photo: RTX Karting)

Rotax racing is underway for the 2022 season as the first event in the United States was held over the weekend. RTX Karting started things off by hosting the opening rounds of their Rotax Winter Trophy program. Round One and Two of the series were held at the Orlando Kart Center in Orlando, Florida, and the teams and drivers needed to battle uncharacteristic weather for the ‘Sunshine State’. Rain was the main storyline of the weekend, along with colder temperatures, however, the near 60 competitors from 16 different nations battled through the challenging conditions to complete the first two rounds of the championship, which will present the first tickets to the 2022 Rotax Grand Finals to its champions.

Alexis Baillargeon won a thriller in Micro Max on Sunday (Photo: RTX Karting)

The event began on Friday with a full day of practice provided to the competitors. Calling the action all weekend trackside was Rotax Grand Finals announcer Henry Beaudette, who had guest commentator Ryan Norberg on hand. Beaudette has called the action from the ‘Olympics of Karting’ since 2014. Round One was held on Saturday with warm-up, qualifying, two heat races and a Final. Sunday hosted Round Two with the same format. Temperatures were cold throughout the weekend with rain holding off until the main events on Saturday. Thankfully, the rain stayed away on Sunday, but the low temperatures made it feel like a true ‘winter’ event.

The largest category of the event was Micro Max, at 12 drivers. Canada swept the first two spots in qualifying for Round One with Justin Di Lucia edging out Rocco Simone by one tenth. USA driver Maxwell Macha picked up the pace to post fast lap of the race in Heat #1, clipping Di Lucia by 65 thousandths at the line for the race win. In Heat #2, Colombian Jacobo Vega was able to capitalize on the last lap to take the win from Julian Rivera (ECU). The heat race points put Macha and Rivera on the front row. The two were able to break away, with Macha leading 11 of the 12 laps for the victory. Di Lucia was third as fellow Canadian Alexis Baillargeon and Vega completed the top-five. Macha began Round Two as the driver to beat once again, setting fast time in qualifying. He would fall to the tail of the field on the opening lap of Heat #1 however, as Di Lucia went wire-to-wire. Heat #2 was Rivera’s turn at the point, leading all 12 laps for the win. Di Lucia and Baillargeon earned spots on the front row for the main event with their heat points. After early fighting with a five-driver lead group, Baillargeon established himself as the leader. Despite the lead changing three times over the final course, Baillargeon was able to secure the victory. Rivera was second with Macha up to third after starting sixth. Martin Sea (ARG) was moved up to fourth after Di Lucia suffered a five-second penalty for pushback bumper.

Salvador Della Vecchia swept the action on Sunday in Mini Max (Photo: RTX Karting)

The Mini Max division was just one off, with 11 drivers battling throughout the weekend, and it also featured two different winners. Phaethon Saradpon was put to the top of the qualifying sheet for Round One after provisional polesitter Kai Johnson was penalized one position for pushback bumper. Saradpon fell to fifth in the opening heat as Salvador Della Vecchia (VEN) edged out Johnson for the win. The top two went back and forth in the second heat race, as Johnson held off Della Vecchia by 81 thousandths at the line. They both started from the front row in the Final, but it was all Johnson as he led the entire distance to the victory. Della Vecchia fell to third with Marco Romero advancing up to second. Alejandro Umana (COL) was fourth with Saradpon in fifth. Sunday was all Della Vecchia as he swept the action, leading from qualifying to the last checkered flag. It was not without a fight as Romero and Umana put on the pressure. On the last lap of the main event, Della Vecchia slipped from first to third, but fought back to the lead to reach the checkered flag first. Romero was removed from the results for being too wide, which promoted Umana to finish second while Gianmatteo Rousseau (PAN) advanced up to third. Johnson and Saradpon completed the top-five.

Jorge Ortiz dominated the weekend in Junior Max, scoring maximum points (Photo: RTX Karting)

Junior Max was dominated on the weekend by Jorge Ortiz, clearing the 10-driver field in qualifying in Round One by two tenths. He won both heat races and led every lap of the Final to finish with a six-second advantage. Gaston Irazu (URY), a starter at the 2018 Rotax Grand Finals in Brazil, was second with Aidan Lourenco in third. Canadian Jensen Burnett was fourth in his Junior debut with Yash Rampal in fifth. Sunday was a similar performance for Ortiz, this time driving away to a 15-second advantage in the main event to earn maximum points on the weekend. Irazu was in the hunt, but suffered a broken chain. That allowed Burnett to drive to the runner-up position ahead of Wesley Gundler, who was making his first ever Rotax start. Ashton Henckel was fourth and Manuel Gonzalez (DOM) finished fifth.

Cameron Weinberg was victorious in his Senior Max debut (Photo: RTX Karting)

Several drivers were in the hunt during the early portion of Round One on Saturday in Senior Max. Cameron Weinberg – making his Senior debut – set fast time in qualifying as he edged out Fernando Barrichello by 78 thousandths. A close third was Canadian Gianluca Savaglio, who ended up winning the opening heat race. Eduardo Barrichello put his name into the mix with a win in Heat #2 after penalties to both Fernando and Felipe Barrichello Bartz dropped them down the order. Savaglio jumped out to the lead to begin the Final, leading the first seven laps. Felipe took over, and from there went on to the victory over Savaglio. Eduardo joined them on the podium with Weinberg fourth and Fernando fifth. Weinberg shined on the dry race track, as he swept the action on Sunday. He edged out Justin White by nine hundredths in qualifying, before winning the two heat races. Weinberg led all 17 laps but was challenged by Eduardo to nearly the end. After taking the lead from Weinberg, Barrichello lost his chain, and relinquished the lead and the victory to Weinberg. Fernando ended up in the second spot ahead of White, with Savaglio and Daniel Callegaris completing the top-five.

Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello opened up the Rotax Winter Trophy with victory in Master Max (Photo: RTX Karting)

Excitement was built up prior to karts hitting the track for the Master Max division, which featured two former Formula One drivers in Rubens Barrichello and Antonio Pizzonia. It was Mundy Loyer (PER) – the eldest driver of the event at 55-years of age – who began leading the category in Round One qualifying, edging out the eight-driver field. Despite mechanical issues in qualifying, Pizzonia was able to bounce back in the heat races, driving from the back to the front in Heat #1 and Heat #2. Pizzonia, however, only led the first three laps of the Final as Barrichello found the pace. Rubens took over the lead and led the remainder of the race to score the victory. Harold Watson joined them on the podium in third ahead of Laurentiu Mardan and Loyer. Overnight, Mardan found the pace to run up front, sweeping the action on the day. Mardan set fast time in qualifying and won both heat races. In the Final, Barrichello put the pressure on until lap 14 when he retired after losing a left front wheel. That allowed Mardan a clean run to the checkered flag. Pizzonia was second with Vincent Carey in third. Watson and Loyer rounded out the top-five.

A support race group included two classes – Tillotson Senior and Tillotson Junior – which joined the weekend with 10 total drivers. Jarret Voorhies and Tyler Lyons scored the wins in Senior while Lucas Moretto and Josh Sankerpersand each took a victory in the Junior division.

The second half of the Rotax Winter Trophy is just around the corner, scheduled for February 5-6 at the Orlando Kart Center. With the championship contenders established after the opening two rounds, drivers will now put in the final pieces toward earning the championship, and tickets to the 2022 Rotax Grand Finals. Head to rtxkarting.com to learn more and register to take part in Round Three and Four.

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