2017 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 to ensure all the Micras were equal the cars 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 modified exhaust system.

In the first season, there was six race weekends - all being held in Quebec. The popularity of the series grew and in 2016, there were three events held in Ontario and five in Quebec. The third season started in May on the Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. This event was followed by races at Circuit Mont-Tremblant in May and July. The championship then competes at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The penultimate round is at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and the season finale will be at Circuit Mont-Tremblant.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park hosted rounds nine and ten for the Nissan Micra Cup series on the Labour Day weekend. During the event, drivers would compete in two thirty-minute races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

After this weekend, there would be just two point scoring races in the season finale at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. Competitors had to balance risk with reward in order to maximize their points and earn the Driver’s title.

At the start of Saturday’s contest, reigning Nissan Micro Cup champion, Xavier Coupal’s opportunity to repeat his 2016 feat took a serious setback. On the first lap, contact at the top of corner two caused Coupal to impact the concrete wall and write-off his Micra. On the re-start, second fastest qualifier, Stefan Gauthier leads the remaining twenty-two cars through turn two. Immediately behind Gauthier are Kevin King and Jesse Lazare.

Kevin King entered the Labour Day weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park third in the driver’s standing. With six podium finishes which included a victory in round six at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, King had a chance of taking the title. In the first race of the weekend, he qualified third but at the end of thirty-minutes scored his second win of the season. On Sunday, King started on the pole and captured the final spot on the podium.

Olivier Bedard leads eventual winner, Kevin King late in round nine. Bedard would surrender the position to King and finish in the runner-up spot. The following day, he qualified seventh in the Équipe Albi Total Micra and after fifteen-laps of racing was second again – turning the fastest lap in the process. Bedard’s performance during the weekend helped him retain the point’s with just two rounds remaining.

The Nissan Micra Cup cars were the first group on the track Sunday morning. During their twenty-minute qualifying session, competitors faced light rain and fog which made for treacherous conditions. The No. 8 Micra driven by Victor Simone spins in corner three. Simone would start twentieth in round ten and finish eighteenth. The previous day, he was gridded twentieth and after fifteen laps of racing was sixteenth.

The pace lap for round ten and twenty-one competitors enter Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s last corner in anticipation of the Starter’s flag. On the pole, turning the fast time during the morning’s wet qualifying session is the No. 40 Sorel-Tracy Nissan Micra of Kevin King. Sharing the front row with King is Jesse Lazare in the Groupe Dusablon Competition Micra. Only two starters would be classified as non-finishers.

Stefan Rzadzinski entered the Nissan Micra Cup championship after a successful stint in the Star Mazda and U.S. Formula 2000 open wheel series. In 2015, the first of the series, Rzadzinski finished third and the following year was fourth in the title chase. Unfortunately, he missed the first four rounds of 2017 and would not be a championship contender. In race one, Rzadzinski started and finished fourth. On Sunday, he scored his second victory of 2017.

The No. 96 Nissan Micra was driven by Stefan Gauthier. In round one at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Gauthier qualified on the pole but was involved in an incident that led to his disqualification. The remainder of his season has included many top-ten finishes but no podiums – this was about to change. In round nine, he was gridded second and captured the last spot on the rostrum. On Sunday, Gauthier was sixth after starting third.

The last lap through Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s final corner and as expected there was contact. Keishi Ayukai was in eighth place driving the Unicorn Motors Ltd entered Micra when there was contact with Frederic Bernier. Ayukai spun and was hit by another competitor. The damage to his car prevented him from continuing and he was classified twentieth – Bernier would finish eighth.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	3	Kevin King	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	15
2	6	Olivier Bédard	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	15
3	2	Stefan Gauthier	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	15
4	4	Stefan Rzadzinski	Nissan Micra	Groupe Touchette	15
5	9	Marc-Antoine Cardin	Nissan Micra	Speed & Sport	15
6	7	Jesse Lazare	Nissan Micra	Groupe Dusablon Competition	15
7	10	Normand Boyer	Nissan Micra	Bevédère Nissan	15
8	13	Keishi Ayukai	Nissan Micra	Unicorn Motors Ltd.	15
9	11	Frédéric Bernier	Nissan Micra	Hi-Fi Racing	15
10	15	Jake Exton	Nissan Micra	Lloyd's Laboratories	15
11	8	Valérie Limoges	Nissan Micra	Total Racing Team	15
12	12	Vincent Doyle	Nissan Micra	Canablast Racing Team	15
13	14	Peter Dyck	Nissan Micra	NRW Rennsport	15
14	18	Fadi Mourad	Nissan Micra	Nissan Gabriel Racing	15
15	21	Alex P Habrich	Nissan Micra	Unicorn Motors Ltd.	15
16	20	Victor Simone	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	15
17	22	Michael Habrich	Nissan Micra	Unicorn Motors Ltd.	15
18	19	Austin Riley	Nissan Micra	Azure Racing	15
19	23	Mario Charette	Nissan Micra	Equipe Charette	14
20	5	Jean-Michel Isabelle	Nissan Micra	Perry Performance / Hull Nissan	9
21	17	Nicolas Barrette	Nissan Micra	Barrette Racing	6
22	1	Xavier Coupal	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	0
23	16	Edward Wong	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	DSQ

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	10	Stefan Rzadzinski	Nissan Micra	Groupe Touchette	15
2	7	Olivier Bédard	Nissan Micra	Équipe Albi Total	15
3	1	Kevin King	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	15
4	2	Jesse Lazare	Nissan Micra	Groupe Dusablon Competition	15
5	9	Valérie Limoges	Nissan Micra	Total Racing Team	15
6	3	Stefan Gauthier	Nissan Micra	Sorel-Tracy Nissan	15
7	6	Normand Boyer	Nissan Micra	Bevédère Nissan	15
8	12	Frédéric Bernier	Nissan Micra	Hi-Fi Racing	15
9	17	Jake Exton	Nissan Micra	Lloyd's Laboratories	15
10	8	Marc-Antoine Cardin	Nissan Micra	Speed & Sport	15
11	13	Vincent Doyle	Nissan Micra	Canablast Racing Team	15
12	11	Peter Dyck	Nissan Micra	NRW Rennsport	15
13	16	Fadi Mourad	Nissan Micra	Nissan Gabriel Racing	15
14	14	Austin Riley	Nissan Micra	Azure Racing	15
15	18	Edward Wong	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	15
16	15	Michael Habrich	Nissan Micra	Unicorn Motors Ltd.	15
17	19	Alex P Habrich	Nissan Micra	Unicorn Motors Ltd.	15
18	20	Victor Simone	Nissan Micra	Alta Group Nissan	15
19	21	Mario Charette	Nissan Micra	Equipe Charette	15
20	5	Keishi Ayukai	Nissan Micra	Unicorn Motors Ltd.	14
21	4	Jean-Michel Isabelle	Nissan Micra	Perry Performance / Hull Nissan	5