Ouellette steamrollers DD2

(Photo by Sportimage)
Pier-Luc Ouellette was unbeatable this week in the United Arab Emirates. He dominated every session of the Rotax DD2 class, including the warm-ups. From memory, it is the first time a driver has ever done this. He won the final race with a 2.5 second gap which he built in the first laps and then concentrated on his driving to avoid making any mistakes to win the final race and be the first Canadian driver to win a world title at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.

Prefinal
Pier Ouellette has made everyone agree. Although it did not appear to be a strain on his talent, he won the Pre-Final with the fastest lap in the race. According to Canadian journalists who know him well: “He doesn’t push, there is still more to come, it’s useless…” Morgan Riche had a superb race. Starting 5th, he was already third by the second lap and passed Williamson to gain second on the fifth lap. Williamson didn’t drop back and kept threatening to retake the position. But nothing worked, Morgan wanted his second place and knew to step on the gas when necessary to ward off his opponent.

1. Pier-Luc Ouellette (CA)
2. Morgan Riche (FR)
3. Tom Williamson (AU)
4. Dennis Thum (DE)
5. Ben George (AU)
6. Tiffany Chittenden (GB)

Final
The domination of the Quebecois Pier Ouellette seemed semi-certain in view of his past performance. It was therefore not a big surprise when the no. 261 kart crossed the finish line well ahead. It was behind him the show took place. Strangely, the race started before they went over the line, leaving four karts on the sidelines including Tiffany Chittenden. The wily Williamson took advantage of his place on the inside of the grid to place himself immediately in the wake of Ouelette, followed by the Japanese driver Kubo. Morgan Riche let two karts go to ensure he got round the first lap, which was wise! He then went on the attack and fairly easily retook Kubo, while Ben George was in fourth and seemed threatening. Morgan found an opening on Williamson on the second lap, but he did not pull away, far from it.

Ouellette was way ahead, Riche remained second, but was being threatened by Kubo and Williamson who eventually got by. Ambition played a role in keeping the chase tightly-knit and it took a lap for Morgan to catch up and overtake Williamson, and two more to take account of Kubo. Riche had recovered his second place. At the finish, it was Kubo who took the third step on the podium.

1. Pier-Luc Ouellette (CA)
2. Morgan Riche (FR)
3. Makoto Kubo (JP)
4. Tom Williamson (AU)
5. Ben George (AU)
6. Joey Collins (US)

Full results and reports in multiple languages are available on Kartcom

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