This past Saturday at the Autodrome StEustache track, the Nissan Cup Grand Prix consisted of two spectacular Nissan Micra Cup races. Both rounds were won by Quebec driver Olivier Bédard, who now has sole ownership of the number one spot in the championship standings. Free practice and qualifying were condensed into one day, and the two races did not allow the drivers nor their teams any rest on Saturday, but delighted the spectators that packed the stands to watch this event at Autodrome St-Eustache.
Starting with the free practice, the drivers pushed their Nissan Micras to the limit in the intense summer heat, once again proving the first-rate reliability of the 25 entered Micras. The mechanically stock Nissan Micra race cars concluded the season’s ninth and tenth rounds on St-Eustache’s 1.9 kilometre track without any issue. Having made his series debut two weeks ago at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, Antoine Bessette earned himself the pole position during a qualifying session that had the top drivers swapping fastest times on multiple occasions. Olivier Bédard finished second, ahead of Valérie Limoges, Jacques Bélanger, Stefan Rzadzinski and Marc-Antoine Demers.
The start of the first race saw Antoine Bessette execute a perfect launch, but as of the second lap, Olivier Bédard had made his way to the front of the pack, on the path to victory. Bessette finished second, ahead of Valérie Limoges, Kevin King, Jacques Bélanger, JeanMichel Isabelle, Marc-Antoine Demers and Nissan GT Academy driver, Thanaroj Thanasitnitikate. Thanaroj’s teammate, Abhinay Bikkani, wasn’t as lucky and had to retire following a collision, which then eliminated him from the hunt for the title. It was one of the few unfortunate incidents in the race and despite the intensity on the track, a very friendly spirit dominated the Autodrome St-Eustache paddocks.
Valérie Chiasson completed the Top 9, ahead of first novice driver, Olivier Pelletier, who barely finished ahead of fellow rookie, Metod Topolnik, and Stefan Rzadzinski, reclassified twelfth following a penalty for avoidable contact.
The second race presented a very similar scenario to the first, at least during the first few laps. Once Bessette retired, Bédard was expected to claim a second victory without any problems, however, this was not taking into consideration Valérie Limoges’ fantastic race. Among the front of the pack throughout the entire race, Valérie caught up to Bédard and challenged for the win right up until the final meters. Finishing in spectacular fashion, the two drivers were only separated by four tenths of a second when they crossed the finish line. With this result, Valérie Limoges earned the best result ever recorded by a female driver in the Nissan Micra Cup.
Jacques Bélanger completed the podium – another great result for the veteran driver – ahead of Olivier Pelletier, who was fourth and top novice driver, followed by Marc-Antoine Demers, Valérie Chiasson, Abhinay Bikkani, Claude Veillette Jr, Carl Wener and Nicolas Touchette.
After this action-packed day, where the drivers once again captivated the crowd with their identical and essentially stock Nissan Micras, only two drivers – Olivier Bédard and Thanaroj Thanasitnitikate – can still fight for the championship title.
The next Nissan Micra Cup race weekend will take place September 25, 26, and 27 at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. These two races will mark the conclusion of the Nissan Micra Cup’s inaugural season, and crown the series’ champions. For more information on the Nissan Micra Cup, please go to the website nissan.ca/micracup.
Don’t miss series news and updates on the Coupe Nissan Micra Cup Facebook page and live tweets/results during practice, qualifying, and races on Twitter: @micracup 2015 Nissan Micra Cup
Calendar:
May 22 to 24 Spring Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant
June 5 to 7 Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada
July 25 & 26 Summer Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant
July 31 to August 2 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières
August 15 Circuit Saint-Eustache
September 25 to 27 Fall Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant
Comments
