Mississauga, Ont. – The Nissan Micra Cup drivers were back in action this weekend to compete in the fifth and sixth races of the 2017 season, as part of the Summer Classic at Quebec’s Circuit Mont-Tremblant. Two spectacular races crowned Xavier Coupal, the series’ 2016 champion, the winner of Saturday’s race and Kevin King, the championship leader, the winner of Sunday’s race.
The drivers competed under a hot sun and put on a great show for the many spectators who were onsite for the event. Among the spectators were nearly 80 Canadian Nissan Micra owners who enjoyed the races and took part in a parade lap of the Circuit Mont-Tremblant during the lunchtime break.
Starting in pole position on Saturday, Xavier Coupal saw last season’s Rookie of the Year, Stéfan Gauthier, pass him on the first lap. Coupal retook the lead shortly after, getting him closer to claiming his second victory of the season. Even though he was in the lead for most of the race, his win was tough due to an incident that took place between Stefan Rzadzinski, Valérie Limoges and Stéfan Gauthier. The incident resulted in a caution period less than ten minutes before the end of the race, which ended up erasing Coupal’s entire lead.
Restarting for two final laps, the end of the race brought the spectators to their feet as they witnessed an exciting battle for second place (between Kevin King, Olivier Bédard and Jean-Michel Isabelle) as well as other battles further back on the track. King, Bédard, Isabelle and Australian Keishi Ayukai finished in that order, ahead of the first two in the senior class, Metod Topolnik and Normand Boyer, who finished less than a second apart.
With identical and practically stock Nissan Micra racecars, close battles are expected but the skill level of the drivers is also quite high. On Saturday, skill level played a big role in the eighth place finish, which went to the race’s top novice driver Nicolas Barrette. He crossed the finish line ahead of Marc-Antoine Cardin, who executed an excellent climb back up the leaderboard after suffering from an incident early on in the race, as well as Stéfan Gauthier, Ontarian Peter Dyck, and novice Vincent Doyle. As for Michel Barrette, he held his own on the track. In his second Nissan Micra Cup race, he finished in fifteenth overall, and fifth in the senior class.
It was another beautiful summer day for Sunday’s race, which saw Xavier Coupal, who started in pole position, Jean-Michel Isabelle, Olivier Bédard and Kevin King fight for victory from the first to the last lap. Once in the lead, King overcame the pressure put on by his competitors and won the race. This increased his lead in the championship standings ahead of Bédard, Coupal and Isabelle, who also finished the race in this order.
Metod Topolnik rounded out the top five and once again finished first in the senior class. He was followed by Ayukai, Albertan Stefan Rzadzinski, who made his return to the series this weekend, Normand Boyer and Valérie Limoges, who climbed 15 spots after being forced to make a pit stop. Marc-Antoine Cardin finished tenth, ahead of the top novice driver Jake Exton of the UK. It was a disappointing finish for Michel Barrette, whose race ended prematurely during the fourth lap.
In the drivers’ championship, Kevin King is leading at the mid-season mark, ahead of Coupal, Bédard, Isabelle, Ayukai and Boyer, who leads the senior class standings. Nicolas Barrette is first in the rookie class.
For their next outing, the Nissan Micra Cup family will remain on Quebec soil but this time as part of the popular Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières taking place from August 11 to 13. As the event’s principal automotive partner, Nissan Canada will be hosting a number of excitings activities, as much for the public as for the fans and Nissan owners. For more information, please visit www.micracup.com.
For full race results, visit:
http://www.micracup.com/2017-Results_Race?RID=25 (race 5)
http://www.micracup.com/2017-Results_Race?RID=26 (race 6)
Overall championship standings after two races: http://www.micracup.com/2017-Results_ClassGen.
For more information on the Nissan Micra Cup, please visit: http://www.micracup.com/main.
2017 Nissan Micra Cup Season Calendar
May 19 – 21 Victoria Day Weekend SpeedFest, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ontario
May 26 – 28 Spring Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
July 21 – 23 Summer Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
August 11 – 13 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, Québec
September 1 – 3 NASCAR Weekend, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ontario
September 22 – 24 Fall Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
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