The busy 2026 Canadian racing season officially kicked off this past weekend as Prime Powerteam split up to compete at two major events — KartStars Round 1 in Ontario and Coupe de Montréal Round 1 in Quebec. With wins, podiums, pole positions, and plenty of speed shown across multiple classes, it was a strong way to begin what is shaping up to be an exciting season for the team.
KartStars Round 1 – Ontario
Saturday at KartStars featured Rotax and Briggs competition, but the day unfortunately started with a scary incident during Mini Max practice. A major crash involving multiple karts caused significant chassis damage for both Yousef Adi and Lincoln Lima. Unfortunately, Lincoln suffered a broken arm in the incident, sidelining him for the immediate future.
The entire team is gutted for Lincoln, who has worked incredibly hard preparing for the 2026 season. We know how tough he is, and we have no doubt he’ll come back stronger. We wish him a speedy recovery and can’t wait to have him back at the track.
Despite the difficult start, the team responded in a big way.
In Mini Max, Yousef Adi bounced back from the early incident perfectly, putting his kart on pole position before converting it into a Prime Powerteam victory in Mini-Max. Our Mini Drivers have been lights out this year with Roots winning the RMC Winter Trophy and now Adi picking up where he left off and winning at Kartstars!
Rotax Senior was dominated by Prime drivers Ryan Maxwell and Noah Landry. Ryan swept the entire day, setting pole position, winning the pre-final, and taking victory in the final. Noah was right there alongside him all day long, finishing second in the final to complete a Prime Powerteam 1-2 finish in Rotax Senior.
In KartStars Senior, Owen McCarthy delivered an impressive performance against an extremely competitive field, finishing on the podium in P3.
Sunday’s program shifted from Rotax to ROK competition while also featuring Briggs classes.
Mateo Pai made his VLR Junior debut and continued building experience throughout the day, ultimately finishing P8 in a strong field.
In Briggs Senior, Logan Pacza showed excellent pace from the start, qualifying on pole and taking victory in the final. Owen McCarthy continued his strong weekend with another solid performance, finishing P6 against a stacked Briggs Senior field.
Overall, KartStars marked an excellent start to the Ontario portion of the Prime Powerteam 2026 campaign.
Coupe de Montréal Round 1 – Quebec
While the Ontario squad battled at KartStars, a smaller Prime Powerteam group headed to Quebec for Coupe de Montréal Round 1 with Olivier Chassé competing in Rotax Junior and Arno Sabourin racing in Rotax Senior.
Saturday featured qualifying sessions, where both drivers immediately showed front-running speed. Chassé put together an excellent lap to secure pole position in Rotax Junior, while Sabourin qualified P4 in an incredibly tight Rotax Senior field.
Sunday featured the pre-finals and finals.
Chassé continued his strong form throughout the day, battling at the front in every session. He finished P2 in the pre-final before securing P3 in the final, earning an excellent podium result to begin his Canadian campaign.
Unfortunately, Sabourin’s weekend did not reflect the pace he showed throughout practice and qualifying. Late in the pre-final, he had a mechanical DNF due to a dragging fuel line. He had to start the final in last and was collected in a large opening-lap crash that effectively ended his race before it could truly begin.
Despite the results, the speed was clearly there all weekend long. The package and the talent are both present, and the team is confident stronger results are coming as the season continues.
Looking Ahead
Next up is one of the biggest weekends of the early season as Prime Powerteam heads to its home track for RMC Ontario Round 1 at Hamilton Karting Complex.
The team expects nearly its full Rotax lineup to be in attendance, and preparations for this event have been ongoing. Prime Powerteam will be ready to bring its A-game.
Before that, many of the team’s Briggs drivers will be competing at the Ontario Interclub Challenge and the CKNA Canadian Finals next weekend, best of luck to everyone racing.
A huge thank you goes out to all of the drivers, mechanics, families, and supporters for a fantastic opening weekend to the 2026 campaign.
We are only getting started. We keep pushing.
