Speedy Limoges makes history as first woman to win Micra Cup
BOWMANVILLE, ONT. Heading into the penultimate Nissan Micra Cup race weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the main storyline was the championship driver battle between defending champ Olivier Bedard and challenger Kevin King.
But when the teams packed up their trailers last Sunday night, the talk of the paddock was about two first-time race winners, each of them making Micra Cup history.
In Saturday’s race, the ninth in the 12-race series and contested under wet conditions, a wild finish between four duelling racers got even wilder a couple of hours after the checkered flag flew when the top three finishers had their results scrubbed for cutting the course.
That decision vaulted fourthplace finisher Valerie Limoges to the top of the podium, marking the first time a woman has finished first in the series.
The next day, under sunny skies, Jake Exton earned his first pole position and backed that up with his first race win, making last season’s rookie-of-the-year the first Ontario driver to earn a Micra Cup victory.
It was sweet vindication for Exton, who was in a battle with the front runners in Saturday’s race until a mechanical issue put him on the sidelines.
The historic race weekend also saw another first when a Nissan Leaf was used as the pace car, marking the first time an all-electric vehicle has been used in such a capacity on a permanent racetrack in Canada.