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.

The 2016 Nissan Micra Cup’s penultimate event was held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the Chevrolet Silverado 250 Weekend. Drivers would compete in two thirty-minute heat races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

Leading the championship hunt by twenty-nine markers heading into the rounds at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was Xavier Coupal. Coupal qualified fourth fastest for Saturday’s contest in the No. 572 Nissan Micra. He moved up the order during the race and by the halfway point Coupal, grabbed the lead and victory. In the finale, an incident on lap-1 forced Coupal to retire and with it, he was now second in the standings.

After four podium results in 2016, Stefan Rzadzinski found the top step at the rostrum in round eleven at Trois-Rivieres. Driving the No. 69 Motorsports in Action Nissan Micra, Rzadzinski started the weekend’s first contest in the eleventh position but retired on lap-2. On Sunday, he redeemed himself. Rzadzinski was gridded seventh but charged through the field and took the lead and win with three laps remaining in the race.

The reigning Nissan Micra Cup champion, Olivier Bedard, entered the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park event second in the title chase. Bedard put the No. 1 Albi Nissan sponsored Nissan Micra on the pole for round thirteen and led the race until lap-7 when he was passed by Xavier Coupal. In the final race of the weekend, he started and finished second. However, Coupal’s retirement gave Bedard the points lead.

The No. 2 Nissan Micra was driven by American Nic Hammann. Hammann was a successful candidate from the Nissan GT Academy for Gamers. His record entering the penultimate weekend included two podium results. Hammann was the sixth fastest in the qualifying session for round thirteen. Steady progress during the race resulted in his third rostrum of 2016. On Sunday, Hammann started third but finished fifteenth.

Valerie Limoges was gridded fifth for the start of Saturday’s race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The driver of the No. 4 H. Gregoire Nissan sponsored Nissan Micra moved to fourth place before disappearing from the lap chart. Limoges left impound early and was disqualified. In the finale, she started in the fifth position and passed Aaron Povoledo late in the contest to secure the final spot on the podium.

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

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