2022/06/16

Double-header of the Nissan Sentra Cup at the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada this weekend!


NISSAN SENTRA CUP - 
The Nissan Sentra Cup will be part of Canada's biggest sporting event this weekend, the famous Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada. Held on the circuit Gilles- Villeneuve, this year's event is expected to be a record-breaking sell-out. For JD Promotion & Competition - promoter of the Cup - for Nissan Canada and for the 30 or so entered drivers and the thousands of fans of the popular Canadian motorsport series, this undoubtedly will be one of the highlights of the 2022 season.

Located on Montréal's Ile Notre-Dame, the circuit Gilles-Villeneuve has been the scene of the Grand Prix du Canada since 1978. This 2022 edition also marks the return of the event and the Formula One World Championship to Canada after it's cancellation for the past two years.

Launched last year on Canadian road courses, the Nissan Sentra Cup will be making its maiden appearance at the prestigious event. However, some of the series' drivers have already raced on circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as the Nissan Micra Cup was part of the Grand Prix program in 2015.

Nearly thirty drivers are entered for this double-header. In addition to the regular competitors, defending Cup champion Kevin King will be making his return to competition. He will surely fight for victory against the first two winners of 2022, Alexandre Fortin and Simon Charbonneau, who captured a victory each in the opening two races of the season held in Ontario in May. Other possible race winners include Valérie Limoges, the young and very promising Justin Arseneau (the current leader in the drivers' championship), veteran Normand Boyer and Sylvain Ouellet. Competitors who've been unlucky in the first event of the season, like NASCAR driver Simon Dion-Viens, Nicolas Barrette, André Lapointe and Éric Chaput who this season is teaming up with his son on the Sentra entered by the Gabriel Group, will do everything possible to climb the podium in Montréal.

Noteworthy is Stefan Rzadzinski's debut in the Cup behind the wheel of one of Groupe Touchette's Nissan Sentras. The Alberta driver captured victory in one of the two Nissan Micra Cup races held at the Grand Prix du Canada in 2015.

In the Micra class, François Angers-Routhier will do his best to extend his domination after winning the first two races of the season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Ontario. Popular radio host Benoit Gagnon will be competing in the Micra category in Montréal. Gagnon contested the Micra Cup race held at the Grand Prix du Canada in 2015.  

The Nissan Sentra Cup drivers will be in action four times during the weekend for the delight of the race fans who will sit in packed grandstands, as well as thousands of guests in the suites and other Formula 1 hospitality units. On Friday, Cup drivers will have the honour of being the first to take to the track for the sole free practice session to get to grips with the 4.361-km F1 track. This practice session will run from 8:25 am to 8:55 am and will be followed at 10:55 am by a 30-minute qualifying session for the two races of the weekend.

The first race will go green at 10:20 am Saturday, June 18 and the second race will start at 10:10 am Sunday, June 19, less than four hours before the start of the 51st Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, Round 9 of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship. The two, 15-lap Sentra Cup races will be shown on the giant screens located around the track.

In addition to the on-track action, the 300,000-and-plus spectators expected to attend the event will have the chance to pay visit to the Nissan Sentra Cup paddock, located behind the east hairpin corner of circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. The paddock will be easily accessible and will be the home of the Sentra and Micra cars and their teams. Fans will also have the chance to look at the new Sentra Cup Safety Car, the new Nissan Z.

Actress and Nissan brand ambassador in Québec Karine Vanasse will also attend the event on Sunday to cheer on the Nissan Sentra Cup racers. After the 2021 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, this will mark her second appearance at an event of the Cup.

To follow the Nissan Sentra Cup on social media:
Facebook: @CoupeSentraCup
Instagram: @nissansentracup
Twitter: @SentraCup
YouTube: SentraCupTV

Nissan Sentra Cup on-track activities
- Free practice sessions: Friday June 17, 8:25 am to 8:55 am
- Qualifying session: Friday June 17, 10:55 am to 11:25 am
- Race 1: Saturday June 18, 10:20 am to 10:50 am
- Race 2: Sunday June 19, 10:10 am to 10:40 am

2022 SCHEDULE - NISSAN SENTRA CUP
May 20-22Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario
June 17-19Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, Montréal, Québec
July 22-24 Summer Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec
August 5-7 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec
September 2-4Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario
September 23-25 Fall Classic, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Québec