Mississauga, Ont. – This coming weekend, the Nissan Micra Cup will kick off its third season at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), which is located east of Toronto, Ontario. After an exceptional inaugural season in 2015, the 2016 season featured a competition unlike anything seen before with a wide range of talented drivers, who conquered all of the challenges that the series had to offer.
This year, the Nissan Micra Cup will host two race weekends in Ontario and four in Quebec, which is where the series originated. Two races will be on the schedule at each race weekend, for a total of 12 races that all count towards each driver’s total championship points. This weekend marks the first time that the Nissan Micra Cup will take part in CTMP’s Victoria Day Weekend SpeedFest, a classic event in the world of Canadian motorsports that draws thousands of spectators annually for NASCAR, Endurance and now the Nissan Micra Cup.
At the wheel of the agile, affordable, and practically stock Nissan Micras will be a range of drivers hailing from Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and even Australia. For the first time in its history, the Nissan Micra Cup is welcoming a young driver from Brisbane, Australia. After participating in the Nissan GT Academy on the Silverstone track in England, Keishi Ayukai decided to pursue his career in motorsport by entering, on his own accord, the 2017 season of the Nissan Micra Cup.
As a new driver in the series who needs to learn how to navigate the tracks while competing head-to-head with experienced drivers, it will be interesting to see Ayukai progress in the Nissan Micra Cup. Ayukai will be competing against 2015 champion Olivier Bédard, 2016 champion Xavier Coupal, Albertan Stéfan Rzadzinski, who recently excelled at the Race of Champions in the United States, Kevin King and his teammate Stéfan Gauthier, who was the 2016 Rookie of The Year, Valérie Limoges and many others.
A large number of drivers who took part in the series last year are returning to the track again this season, as are nearly a dozen new additions. In addition to Ayukai, the young “Racing with Autism” karting driver, Austin Riley, will be competing in one of Metod Topolnik’s Azure Racing Team’s cars.
Several members of popular comedian/actor Michel Barrette’s family are also scheduled to compete this season. During the first race weekend of the competition at CTMP, Barette’s sons Nicolas and Martin will be on the entry list.
Toronto-based media agency, The Motorsport Agency, will also be in the spotlight after 11 drivers participated in a selection process to win the team’s only spot in the series. The big winner will be announced before the start of the weekend and will make his/her debut at the wheel of The Motorsport Agency’s Nissan Micra during the season’s inaugural event.
Another exciting announcement this year is the creation of the senior category, reserved for drivers 40 years and older. Similar to the overall winners, a second podium will be dedicated to this category and winners will be awarded with prizes provided by Nissan Parts and Accessories.
This first race weekend of 2017 will be the ideal place for Nissan Micra owners to experience the series and its close-knit community in the paddocks. For each Nissan Micra Cup event, Nissan Canada is offering every Nissan Micra owner the chance to win a special invitation to the races.
Registration for the contest is available on the Nissan Micra Cup website at http://www.micracup.com/eventregistration/. While the contest is already closed for the first race weekend, there is still time to register for the second race weekend at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Québec, which is taking place the following week.
This exciting contest isn’t the only thing bringing Nissan Micra fans, competitors, and teams together. A track parade featuring Nissan 370Z owners is scheduled for Sunday, as well as an autograph session with the Nissan Micra Cup drivers, to which everyone is welcome. This takes place on Sunday from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. in the Nissan activities area, which will be open on Saturday and Sunday and will feature numerous activities for the crowd.
After the practice sessions on Thursday and Friday morning, Nissan Micra Cup drivers will participate in the only qualifying session on Friday from 3:40 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. On Saturday, the first race of the 2017 season will start at 5:05 p.m., followed by a second race being held on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Each race will last approximately 30 minutes.
For more information on the Nissan Micra Cup, please visit: www.nissan.ca/micracup.
2017 Nissan Micra Cup Season Calendar
May 19 to 21 Victoria Day Weekend SpeedFest, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ontario
May 26 to 28 Spring Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
July 21 to 23 Summer Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
August 11 to 13 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, Québec
September 1 to 3 NASCAR Weekend, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ontario
September 22 to 24 Fall Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
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