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 were 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. Now in its fifth season, the series opens in May on the Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. This event is followed by races at Calabogie Motorsport Park and Circuit Mont-Tremblant in June 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 held at Circuit Mont-Tremblant.

The opening rounds of the 2019 Nissan Micra Cup championship were contested at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Drivers would compete in two thirty-minute races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course during the Victoria Day Weekend SpeedFest.

The start of round one for the 2019 Nissan Micra Cup and seventeen entrants funnel into Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s high-speed corner one. Leading the tightly packed field is the pole-sitter and series reigning champion, Olivier Bedard. Running side-by-side behind Bedard are second and third quickest qualifiers, Marco Signoretti and Jake Exton. Immediately behind Signoretti and Exton are Valerie Limoges and Kevin King.
In the season opener for the Nissan Micra Cup, Olivier Bedard demonstrated why he is the series’ defending champion. In the two qualifying sessions, Bedard was quickest – over 0.5-seconds faster than the second-place starter. He led race one flag-to-flag but was challenged by Marco Signoretti late in the event. On Sunday, Bedard was passed by Signoretti but an error by the rookie allowed him to capture a second victory.
Karter, Marco Signoretti made his series debut at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Signoretti was competitive immediately, this is not surprising as last year, he finished second in the Canadian Open – Rotax Max Senior category. In both qualifying sessions, the rookie was second quickest. In round one, Signoretti was the runner-up. The following day, he led briefly but an error at Moss corner resulted in another second-place finish.
Kevin King has participated in the Nissan Micra Cup series since its inception in 2015. Last year, King was the runner-up in the title chase after finishing third the two previous seasons. The driver of the No. 40 King Motorsports / L&P Apparel sponsored Nissan Micra qualified sixth for the weekends first contest and after a fierce battle with Jake Exton and Valerie Limoges, he was third. In round two, King qualified fifth and finished fourth.
Another driver who has a long-standing association with the Nissan Micra Cup championship is Valerie Limoges. Limoges is the only woman in the series history to claim a race victory. She was declared the winner last year in round nine at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On Saturday, Limoges was gridded fourth and fought with Kevin King and Jake Exton before finishing fourth. In round two, she grabbed the last spot on the podium.
In the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, positions three through five were hotly contested. The main combatants were Kevin King, Jake Exton and Valerie Limoges. Midway through the contest, the order was King, Limoges and Exton. Here Exton succeeds in making an aggressive pass on Limoges. Before the checkered flag, the positions would change again with King finishing third followed by Limoges and Exton.
Drivers, Nicolas Barrette in the No. 427 Barrette Racing Micra and the No. 4 Micra of Peter Hanson had a terrific dual until lap-11 of the weekend’s finale. Hanson was leading Barrette when Barrette clipped the curb a corner 5A. Barrette went up on two wheels and hit Hanson, forcing Hanson to retire. Barrette continued but was penalized for avoidable contact. He was placed behind Hanson in the finishing order – sixteenth place.
This weekend the Nissan LEAF NISMO RC was used as the Nissan Micra Cup series official pace car. The LEAF NISMO RC was unveiled last November in Tokyo. There are currently six of these electric cars around the world. Powering the all-wheel-drive LEAF NISMO are two electric motors – front and rear – which combined produce 322-horsepower and 472-lbs-ft of torque. The vehicle is also fitted with a lithium-ion battery and inverters.

FINISHSTARTDRIVERCARENTRANTLAPS
11Olivier BédardNissan MicraSolidXperts16
22Marco SignorettiNissan MicraTBA16
36Kevin KingNissan MicraKing Motorsports / L&P Apparel16
44Valérie LimogesNissan MicraTotal Racing Team16
53Jake ExtonNissan MicraTeam Moovit16
65Taylor NearNissan MicraPay-Pal / Motorsports in Action16
712Frederic BernierNissan MicraHi-Fi Racing16
88Sylvain OuelletNissan MicraAutomobiles S.Ouellet16
913Alex P HabrichNissan MicraSolidXperts16
1011Michael HabrichNissan MicraSolidXperts16
1110Eric ChaputNissan MicraÉquipe de course Chaps racing team16
1216Demi ChalkiasNissan MicraTBA16
137Austin RileyNissan MicraRacing with autism16
1417Peter HansonNissan MicraTBA16
1514Mario CharetteNissan MicraMB Performance16
1615Francois-Xavier LassusNissan MicraEl Toro Racing16
179Nicolas BarretteNissan MicraBarrette Racing2

FINISHSTARTDRIVERCARENTRANTLAPS
11Olivier BédardNissan MicraSolidXperts23
22Marco SignorettiNissan MicraTBA23
34Valérie LimogesNissan MicraTotal Racing Team23
45Kevin KingNissan MicraKing Motorsports / L&P Apparel23
57Taylor NearNissan MicraPay-Pal / Motorsports in Action23
66Austin RileyNissan MicraRacing with autism23
73Jake ExtonNissan MicraTeam Moovit23
810Sylvain OuelletNissan MicraAutomobiles S.Ouellet23
911Eric ChaputNissan MicraÉquipe de course Chaps racing team23
1013Frederic BernierNissan MicraHi-Fi Racing23
1114Mario BerthiaumeNissan MicraMB Performance23
1312Alex P HabrichNissan MicraSolidXperts23
1415Francois-Xavier LassusNissan MicraEl Toro Racing23
1516Demi ChalkiasNissan MicraTBA22
DNF17Peter HansonNissan MicraTBA11
128Nicolas BarretteNissan MicraBarrette Racing23
DNF9Michael HabrichNissan MicraSolidXperts3

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