Fifteen-year-old Olivier Mrak’s dream is to one day be a professional race car driver. But every dream starts with the reality of having to take one step at a time.

For Olivier, the first step is to achieve success on the Canadian karting circuit, and so far so good. He placed second at the ROTAX Canadian Open Championship last year competing against drivers who were a year older than him and qualified for both the ROTAX International Grand Final in Bahrain and the ROC International Superfinal in Italy.

This year, he’s had a number of first place results, including winning the Ron Fellows racing series which resulted in him winning a ticket to the ROK International Superfinal which is being held this weekend in Lonato, Italy.

The ROK Superfinal is one of the top karting events in the world with more than 400 participants racing from over 35 different nations.

Olivier finished 13th in the event last year as a first-year junior. It was the first time a Canadian had ever placed in the top 20. A year older and with another year of experience under his belt, he is hoping to place in the top 10 this time around.

Olivier also won the 2024 Coupe de Montréal series championship which he wrapped up with a third place finish in the sixth and final race of the series last month in Mont-St-Hilaire, Québec, and he placed first at the ROK Canada Cup Junior Cash Shootout event at the Mosport Karting Centre in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville. which was also held in September.

This will be Olivier’s final year competing as a junior. He plans to move up to the senior karting circuit next year with the goal of eventually graduating to open wheel racing which starts with the Formula 4 cars.

His ultimate goal is to race Formula 1 with the likes of Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, all of whom got their start in karting, as did the only Canadian currently competing in F1, Lance Stroll.

Although Stroll is a fellow Canadian, Olivier’s favourite Formula 1 driver is Max Versrtappen. In fact, he recently wrote about his hero for a school assignment.

“My model is Max Verstappen. I admire his journey and determination on the track in becoming a Formula 1 driver,” Olivier wrote. “He taught me that self-confidence and discipline are essential qualities to succeed. Max shaped my mindset by showing me the importance of always aiming for excellence, without being afraid to take risks.”

Who knows, maybe one day Olivier will be Canada’s version of Max Verstappen and follow in the footsteps of legend Gilles Villeneuve.