Mont-Tremblant, Quebec – This past weekend, the Circuit Mont-Tremblant was the stage for the final two rounds of the 2015 Nissan Micra Cup. Two spectacular races decided who would be crowned the very first champion in the history of the series. This honour was earned by the young Quebecker Olivier Bédard, at the end of a season that saw him at the top of the podium five of the 12 rounds.
With its colourful autumn backdrop, the Circuit Mont-Tremblant welcomed 24 Nissan Micra Cup drivers for the final outing of the season. For Bédard, the situation was simple: finish in front of, or just behind, his rival Thanaroj Thanasitnitikate, the young Nissan GT Academy driver from Thailand, in one of two races, he’d be guaranteed the title. This proved to be a feasible mission for the promising 18-year-old Quebec driver.
Under Saturday’s sunny skies, it seemed for a long time that the race victory would go to Bédard, but a double collision between him, the Albertan Stefan Rzadzinski, and veteran driver Richard Spénard, relegated Bédard to ninth place while Rzadzinski and Spénard were both penalized. Marc-Antoine Demers was declared the winner. This victory, his first of the season, was well-deserved as Demers was towards the front of the pack all weekend long. Behind him were Thanasitnitikate, his Nissan GT Academy teammate, Abhinay Bikkani of India, Jacques Bélanger, Antoine Bessette, Valérie Limoges, top rookie Olivier Pelletier, and Kevin Lacroix, the NASCAR driver who made his series debut as part of the Total Canada team.
The following day, the grand finale of the season was won by Stefan Rzadzinski, who finished ahead of ALBI Le Géant teammates Richard Spénard, Antoine Bessette, Olivier Pelletier and Marc-Antoine Demers – the race leader for the first half. The Top 10 was rounded out by Thanaroj Thanasitnitikate, Valérie Limoges, Olivier Bédard, Kevin King and Valérie Chiasson.
In the final championship standings, Bédard finishes in the number on spot ahead of Thanasitnitikate, Rzadzinski, Bikkani, Valérie Limoges, and Valérie Chiasson. Olivier Pelletier is the rookie champion, ahead of Metod Topolnik who, despite earning a super pole position during Sunday’s race, succumbed to a double retirement this weekend.
With an average of 25 drivers competing in each round and continuously increasing in popularity, the Nissan Micra Cup concluded its inaugural season in great fashion. The stock vehicles (the Micra S model), identical for all and easy to manoeuvre, fun-to-drive, and extremely reliable (not a single mechanical retirement for any driver all season long), the Nissan Micra Cup entered the Canadian motorsport world in excellent fashion.
“I couldn’t be happier with the first Micra Cup season! We had almost 30 drivers from different backgrounds – go karting, open wheel, other racing series – and some who are entirely new to racing. It’s exciting to see how they compete around some truly challenging tracks and in front of huge audiences,” said Christian Meunier, president of Nissan Canada. “Congratulations to all the drivers and their teams, the organizers, and everyone involved who made this first season a success.”
Series promoter, Jacques Deshaies was also very impressed by the season and is already looking towards the future. “We knew there was a need for a spec series in Canada, and we’ve proven it with the success of the Nissan Micra Cup! We’re excited to bring an affordable racing series to Canada that puts the drivers’ talent before the budget,” said Deshaies.
The Nissan Micra Cup will be back on the Canadian race tracks next year, with announcement of the 2016 calendar this winter.
For more information on the Nissan Micra Cup, please go to the website www.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:
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