Micra Cup champ crowned, expansion is coming
Nissan Canada race series plans to hold three events in Ontario next season
MONTREAL— At a gala awards banquet for the inaugural Nissan Micra Cup Friday night, the championship trophy was formally presented to 18year-old Olivier Bédard of Terrebonne, Que.
The kart and Formula F1600 racer solidified his hold on the championship with two Top Ten finishes at Le Circuit-Mont Tremblant in the final races of the 12-race series just about a month ago.
It was a fitting end to the new series, which promised close racing and a chance for young racers to get an inexpensive foothold on what can be a most expensive sport.
For its first year, the Micra Cup ran only in Quebec, counting on that province’s well-known enthusiasm for auto racing. But at Friday’s banquet, Nissan Canada president Christian Meunier announced that the series will expand with three events in Ontario in 2016. Dates and venues will be revealed later.
There will still be five events in Quebec, for a total of 16 races — two per weekend. Entrants will count the best 12 finishes from the 16 races to determine the championship standings. The theory here is that lowerbudget teams may choose to skip some of the more distant events, yet still remain in contention.
When Montreal-based auto journalist, longtime racer and rally driver Jacques Deshaies proposed the Micra Cup idea to Nissan Canada’s senior manager of corporate communications Didier Marsaud, he pretty much had him at “Bonjour.”
Nissan had been trying to pitch the subcompact Micra as an entertaining car to drive despite its modest price, which starts at less than $10,000. What better way to make this point than to have a gaggle of these cars battling door-handle to door-handle on a race track?
Deshaies figured Nissan could build a proper race car for under $20,000, installing a roll cage and requisite safety equipment but leaving the oily bits essentially unchanged.
More than two dozen entrants, rookies and greybeards alike agreed and signed up. The Micra Cup knew what NAS- CAR knows but Formula One has forgotten (if it ever knew): that it doesn’t really matter how fast the cars are going, or how sophisticated the technology is under the skin. If you have a boatload of cars duking it out for the win on the last corner, you have a spectacle.
The Micra Cup races were universally the most entertaining races at every meet in which they participated, most notably the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Yes, with all of 106 horsepower. As part of the series, Nissan made two cars available for “celebrities” and/or “media.” Such notables as figure skater Elvis Stojko and longtime Canadian racing superstar Richard Spenard had chances, as did some of my journalist colleagues such as Brian Makse, Gabriel Gelinas and Carl Nadeau.
My shot came at the Summer Clas- sic at Mont Tremblant in late July. Tremblant is a very challenging course, at which I hadn’t raced for a long time. Even at the relatively modest speeds we were going, my right foot would not obey what my left brain was asking of it.
That said, I did make four genuine racing passes in my two races over the weekend. Felt good, I must say. And it was right in front of my hosts from Nissan, so I was showing off just a bit.
Thanks to Eric Coté and his GT Racing team who prepped my car, and to Mathieu Bazinet, my wrench for the weekend.
Racing on a budget? OK, so it’s still more expensive than ultimate frisbee. But for competitive, entertaining and low-budget road racing, the Micra Cup is as good as it gets.
One-marque racing series have a long and glorious history in Canada, from the Honda-Michelin Challenger Series to the Player’s GM for Camaros and Firebirds to Rothmans Porsche Turbo Cup. It is from these farm systems that come the Goodyears, Tracys and Fellows of the future.
Bédard might be next. He has already landed a ride in the NASCAR Canada national stock car series. Freelance writer Jim Kenzie is Toronto Star Wheels’ chief auto reviewer. For more details on the Micra Cup series as well as full results, visit nissan.ca/micracup. And if you skipped French class in Grade 10, scroll right down to the bottom of the home page to click on the English version.