2016 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

The Nissan Micra Cup series made its debut in 2015. The championship was designed to provide racers with the most affordable new race vehicle in Canada. To keep costs down and ensure all the Micras were equal, the cars are prepared by a single performance shop – Motorsports in Action.

The Micra is powered by a 1.6-liter DOHC 4-cylinder engine which produces 109-horsepower. For safety purposes, much of the interior (seats, door panels, etc.) is removed and a safety cage, five-point harness, window net and FIA-approved racing seat are installed. To improve the performance of the cars, they are fitted with a racing suspension kit, high-performance brake pads, Pirelli racing tires and a modified exhaust system.

In the first season, there were six race weekends - all being held in Quebec. The popularity of the series grew and in 2016, there were three race weekends held in Ontario and five in Quebec, each of which were doubleheaders. The second season starts in mid-May at Calabogie Motorsport Park. This event was followed by the first of three visits to Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant. The series stays in Quebec for races at Autodrome St-Eustache for rounds five and six. The championship then competes for the first time at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. Teams return to Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant in late July. Next on the calendar is the historic Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The series makes its second visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for rounds thirteen and fourteen. Champions are crowned in the final weekend of competition at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park would host rounds seven and eight of the 2016 Nissan Micra Cup series during the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. The races were 30-minutes in length around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

Series rookie Xavier Coupal entered round seven at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park second in the title chase. Coupal qualified on the outside of row one for round seven and trailed the pole-sitter, Kevin King, to a runner-up result. However, King was penalized for exceeding the track’s limits and Coupal was awarded the victory. On Sunday, No. 572 Nissan Micra driver started third and captured the last spot on the podium.

The reigning Nissan Micra Cup champion, Olivier Bedard, had a slow start to the season. However, in round four at Mont-Tremblant, he scored his first victory of 2016 and claimed a second at Autodrome St-Eustache. Bedard qualified third for Saturday’s contest at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and battled with Nicolas Hammann and Valerie Limoges before finishing second. On Sunday, he claimed his third win of the season.

Stefan Rzadzinski finished third in last year’s final standings. Consistent results in the first six rounds of the 2016 Nissan Micra Cup allowed him to enter the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park third in the title chase. Rzadzinski qualified fifth for the weekend’s first contest and with Kevin King’s penalty, he finished third. In the finale, he started fourth, but an error led to a six-place finish.

Entering the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park rounds, Kevin King led this year’s standing by two points; however, he would be in the third spot by the end of the weekend. King used a late-race pass to win round seven. Unfortunately, he was penalized for exceeding the limits of the track, which resulted in an eleventh-place finish. On Sunday, King fought with Olivier Bedard and Xavier Coupal to claim a runner-up result.

Quebec road racing veteran Valerie Limoges joined the Nissan Micra Cup last season and finished fifth in the championship points. Her record this year included a runner-up result in round three at Mont-Tremblant. The driver of the No. 4 H. Gregoire Nissan sponsored Nissan Micra Cup was gridded in the sixth position for race one and finished fifth after Kevin King was penalized. In the finale, Limoge was eighth.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	2	Xavier Coupal	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	15
2	3	Olivier Bedard	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	15
3	5	Stefan Rzadzinski	Nissan Micra	Albi Nissan	15
4	4	Nic Hammann	Nissan Micra	Albi Nissan	15
5	6	Valerie Limoges	Nissan Micra	Motorsports in Action	15
6	7	Marc-Antoine Demers	Nissan Micra	GT Academy Global	15
7	8	Karl Wittmer	Nissan Micra	H. Gregoire Nissan	15
8	13	Normand Boyer	Nissan Micra	Albi Nissan	15
9	12	Chris Sahakian	Nissan Micra	Team United Auto	15
10	11	Valerie Chaisson	Nissan Micra	Les Blocs Normand Inc.	15
11	1	Kevin King	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	15
12	18	Stephane Gauthier	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	15
13	21	Mario Berthiaume	Nissan Micra	MB Performance	15
14	20	Brian Makse	Nissan Micra	Guelph & Waterloo Nissan	15
15	19	Frederick Bernier	Nissan Micra	Hi-Fi Racing	15
16	22	Yves Aube	Nissan Micra	Val-d'Or Nissan	15
17	23	Peter Dyck	Nissan Micra	NRW Rennsport	15
18	16	Edward Wong	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	15
19	9	Method Topolnik	Nissan Micra	Azure Synoptic Racing	15
20	15	Kirk Robinson	Nissan Micra	Total Canada	15
21	14	Martin Gray	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	15
22	24	David Booth	Nissan Micra	Nissan Canada Media Car	15
23	26	Ashley Sahakian	Nissan Micra	Team United Auto	14
24	17	Neil Vorano	Nissan Micra	Nissan Canada Media Car	8
25	10	Pierre Clavet	Nissan Micra	Hull Nissan	3
26	25	Craig Willoughby SR.	Nissan Micra	Lloyd's Laboratories	0

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	1	Olivier Bedard	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	18
2	2	Kevin King	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	18
3	3	Xavier Coupal	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	18
4	5	Nic Hammann	Nissan Micra	Albi Nissan	18
5	7	Marc-Antoine Demers	Nissan Micra	GT Academy Global	18
6	4	Stefan Rzadzinski	Nissan Micra	Albi Nissan	18
7	10	Normand Boyer	Nissan Micra	Albi Nissan	18
8	6	Valerie Limoges	Nissan Micra	Motorsports in Action	18
9	11	Method Topolnik	Nissan Micra	Azure Synoptic Racing	18
10	9	Pierre Clavet	Nissan Micra	Hull Nissan	18
11	14	Stephane Gauthier	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	18
12	13	Valerie Chaisson	Nissan Micra	Les Blocs Normand Inc.	18
13	8	Karl Wittmer	Nissan Micra	H. Gregoire Nissan	18
14	19	Martin Gray	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	18
15	16	Mario Berthiaume	Nissan Micra	MB Performance	18
16	24	Frederick Bernier	Nissan Micra	Hi-Fi Racing	18
17	17	Edward Wong	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	18
18	12	Chris Sahakian	Nissan Micra	Team United Auto	18
19	18	Brian Makse	Nissan Micra	Guelph & Waterloo Nissan	18
20	15	Neil Vorano	Nissan Micra	Nissan Canada Media Car	18
21	21	Yves Aube	Nissan Micra	Val-d'Or Nissan	18
22	23	Kirk Robinson	Nissan Micra	Total Canada	18
23	22	David Booth	Nissan Micra	Nissan Canada Media Car	18
24	26	Ashley Sahakian	Nissan Micra	Team United Auto	17
25	20	Peter Dyck	Nissan Micra	NRW Rennsport	6
26	25	Craig Willoughby SR.	Nissan Micra	Lloyd's Laboratories	0