2020/09/21

Mississauga, Ontario – This weekend, the Fall Classic event hosted at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, will mark the grand finale of the 2020 season of the Nissan Micra Cup.

Kevin King (L&P Apparel / Nissan Gabriel team) and Jesse Lazare (PayPal / Motorsports In Action) will be fighting for the overall championship title. King, who has won five of the six races so far, is well positioned to come out on top this weekend. With a thirty-point advantage, King can afford to see Lazare win the final two races of the season, but he still needs to finish both races in the top six to grab the overall championship title.

However, if King and Lazare experience serious problems on the track this weekend, Valérie Limoges, who is third in the point standings, could still have a chance to snatch the title from her male rivals. Always a top contender, the Total / H team Grégoire Nissan racer has finished on the podium five in six races this season, but to take the title, Limoges must win both races in addition to grabbing two pole positions and must score the two fastest laps. King would have to finish no better than ninth place in both races, and Lazare would have to not make it to the podium even once. It is quite an ambitious task, but Limoges can be proud and satisfied with her strong performance this season as she has raced very well this year, again.

The Rookie of the Year title is toss up between two teammates and former kart racers from Ontario, Justin Di Benedetto and Gavin Sanders. Sanders is currently enjoying a comfortable 49-point lead over his rival. To take the title, he must finish in the top ten. If he scores very good overall results, Sanders could even overtake Limoges for third place in the overall standings.

Competition is tighter than ever in the senior category, with at least seven drivers battling it out for the title. Frédéric Bernier, who lost the title in the final race last year, appears to be in the lead this season. Bernier, the likeable Québec City driver and loyal fan of the Nissan Micra Cup since its inception in 2015 is first in the senior class standings. He will try to win his first title as he is just two points ahead of last year’s champion, Sylvain Ouellet, and twelve points ahead of Éric Chaput.

Although the senior category is reserved for drivers aged 40 and over, these experts all drive mechanically identical Nissan Micras, just like every other driver in the series. This is where driving talent makes all the difference, and therefore it is not uncommon for senior drivers to be battling for victory at the front of the pack.

At least 26 drivers have entered this ultimate final event, marking a record for the 2020 season – and once again, proving the popularity of the racing series supported by Nissan Canada and promoted by Jacques Deshaies (JD Promotion & Competition). Among the newcomers at Circuit Mont-Tremblant this weekend are Jean Audet, who raced in the Canadian GT3 Cup series last year, and Alan Sanders. Alan is Gavin Sanders’ father and the two will form the second father-son duo in the series. The other father-son pair is making a comeback, as actor and comedian Michel Barrette will rejoin the series to race alongside his son Nicolas Barrette – who is a regular in the series.

While we often see the family side of the Nissan Micra Cup, this will be the first time in the recent years that the Canadian motorsports scene will have two father-son duos on the track at the same time – one from Ontario and the other from Québec.

With these two final races, the 2020 Nissan Micra Cup season will total eight races across four events. In the case of the Fall Classic at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, spectators will unfortunately not be admitted on site, but fans will still have the opportunity to follow the action across the Nissan Micra Cup’s social media. In addition, all eight races of the 2020 Nissan Micra Cup will be broadcasted this fall on Réseau Des Sports (RDS) for the first time.

To follow the Nissan Micra Cup:

Facebook: Nissan Micra Cup
Instagram: @nissanmicracup
Twitter: @MicraCup
YouTube: MicraCupTV

Nissan Micra Cup track schedule this weekend:

Open practice day organized by the track: Friday, September 25, from 9:00 a.m.-4:55 p.m.
Qualifying round for Race 1:                            Saturday, September 26, from 9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
Race 1:                                                      Saturday, September 26, from 1:10 p.m.-1:50 p.m.
Qualifying round for Race 2:                            Sunday, September 27, from 9:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m.
Race 1:                                                      Sunday, September 27, from 1:00 p.m.-1:40 p.m.

2020 Nissan Micra Cup season schedule:

July 24-26:               Summer Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
August 28-30:          Calabogie Motorsports Park, Ontario
September 11-12:    ICAR Circuit, Mirabel, Québec
September 25-27:    Fall Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec

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