Trois-Rivières, Quebec – This past weekend, as part of the forty-sixth edition of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the Nissan Micra Cup kicked off the second half of its inaugural season, with two races that left the thousands of spectators in awe. Quebecker Olivier Bédard won Saturday’s race, which started on a dry track but ended in the rain, while on Sunday, Stefan Rzadzinski claimed victory.
Benefiting from the Nissan Micra’s exceptional driving ability with one of the best turning radiuses, the twenty-six entered drivers completed the challenge of this difficult temporary urban track with panache.
As of the practice session on Friday, the Albertan Stefan Rzadzinski demonstrated his weekend desires by earning the fastest lap time. He repeated this again the following day during qualifying, claiming pole position by a tenth of a second ahead of Antoine Bessette. A novice in this series, the former Formula Atlantic star driver showed that he hasn’t lost his touch and remained among the head of the pack throughout the entire weekend.
Olivier Bédard, the Nissan GT Academy drivers Thanaroj Thanasitnitikate and Abhinay Bikkani, and Valérie Chiasson completed the Top 6 in a qualifying session that also highlighted Elvis Stojko’s series debut, as the world champion figure skater claimed eighteenth place.
Starting on a dry track, Saturday’s race saw Stefan Rzadzinski set the tone during the first laps, however, without being able to create a big enough gap, he could not escape the charging Bédard, Thanasitnitikate and Bessette. This was evidenced on the last lap, when Rzadzinski went slightly wide on turn 1, allowing Bédard to squeeze by and claim his third victory of the season. Rzadzinski and Thanasitnitikate completed the podium, with all three finishing within eight-tenths of a second. Antoine Bessette finished fourth ahead of Valérie Chiasson who was able to hold off Jean-Michelle Isabelle, Abhinay Bikkani and Marc-Antoine Demers’ attempts to pass. Valérie Limoges and Simon Dion-Viens finished in ninth and tenth places, respectively.
After a great start, Elvis Stojko saw his race end prematurely seven minutes from the finish after he made contact with the tire wall.
Held on Sunday, the second race was interrupted twice as a result of collisions in the peloton. Spectators were once again treated to excellent battles at the head of the pack, as talented drivers, combined with the high quality Nissan Micras , provided a great show! Stefan Rzadzinski won the race but the final results were delayed during the post-race technical inspection. After an investigation by officials , the victory stood. The Edmonton driver finish first, in front of Olivier Bédard, Thanaroj Thanasitnitikate and Antoine Bessette, who had earned the pole position but struggled at the start.
Jean-Michel Isabelle finished in fifth, ahead of Kevin King, who also earned his first Top 6 and honorary title of top Trois-Rivières driver. Abhinay Bikkani was seventh followed by Valérie Limoges, Paul Dargis and Valérie Chiasson, who was battling with Antoine Bessette before falling victim to a collision with Abhinay Bikkani two laps prior to the finish.
Also notable were Elvis Stojko’s magnificent performances, finishing eleventh in his second race ever, as well as that of Yves Aubé, who finished as the top novice driver.
Television host Éric Salvail, from the popular show En Mode Salvail airing on V télé, was Nissan Canada’s guest at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. In addition to his presence in the paddock to support the series drivers on Saturday, he presented the winners with their trophies after Saturday’s race before joining Alexandre Tagliani on the track! Éric Salvail had the pleasure of being Tag’s passenger in the Nissan Maxima Pace Car for a few laps on the track at Trois-Rivières – a fun nod to the Micra TV spot featuring them both, currently on air in Quebec.
The next outing for the Nissan Micra Cup is on August 15th at the Autodrome St-Eustache track, just north of Montreal.
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
Nissan Micra Cup 2015 Season Schedule:
About the Nissan Micra Cup
Sanctioned by Auto Sport Québec (ASQ) and presented by JD Promotion Compétition with the support of Nissan Canada, the Nissan Micra Cup exclusively features the stock Micra 1.6 S M/T model with minor modifications, including NISMO suspension – to render it race-ready.
Unlike most motorsport events, each competing Nissan Micra race vehicle will have the exact same specifications, resulting in a competition that truly reveals the most skilled drivers. The Nissan Micra Cup race vehicles remain equipped with the Nissan Micra’s stock 1.6-litre DOHC 4-cylinder engine with dual fuel injection and Twin CVTC (Continuously Variable Timing Control) and stock 5-speed manual transmission. More than 25 Nissan Micras will compete on each race weekend which will include two hours of track time consisting of: a 30-minute trial, a 30-minute qualifying session and two 30-minute races.
Young karting drivers, the average Canadian looking for an entry point into motorsport competition, or anyone who wants to experience the rush of adrenaline inherent with racing cars are all well-suited to this series. In summary, the Nissan Micra Cup is for people who are passionate about motorsports, want to experience all the fun and thrills of racing, but without spending staggering amounts of money.
About the Nissan Micra
In 2014, the Nissan Micra returned to Canada after 23 years as an all-new model, offering Canadians unbeatable value with the lowest starting Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) in Canada at $9,998. One item that sets the 2015 Micra apart is its agility. Micra is easy to drive and park, thanks to excellent all-round visibility and turning radius, electric power steering and a power to weight ratio that surprises. Powering the front-wheel drive Micra is a DOHC 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine rated at 109 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm and 107 lb-ft. of torque @ 4,400 rpm.
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