Toyota did the same thing with the Echo hatch when it first appeared in Canada, called it the Echo cup.
Good idea, but $20k for that car? That sounds nuts to me.
Story And Photos By Gary Grant
Anyone who has watched or competed in a single-marque series like Spec Miata or Spec E30 understands the level of excitement they inspire on both sides of the fence. When the starring cars are sporty cult classics like the Miata and 3 Series, it doesn’t take much imagination to envision huge fields battling it out for the podium.
But what would happen if there were a series based on low-buck econoboxes? When Nissan Canada announced that the Nissan Micra would return to the Canadian market with a price of less than 10 grand per car, longtime automotive journalist and former Honda Michelin series competitor Jacques Deshaies knew the time had come for a repeat appearance of grocery-getter madness. Putting pen to paper, Deshaies realized the fabricators could build complete race cars that could be retailed for about $20,000.
Deshaies immediately presented the idea to Nissan Canada’s corporate communications boss, Didier Marsaud. His enthusiasm was expected: As a younger man, the Frenchman was a motorsports pho- tographer and journalist who covered the Dakar before joining the Renault competition team. What wasn’t expected was that Nissan Canada’s president, Christian Meunier, would be equally as enthralled and approve it almost instantly.
Throughout 2015, the series won Quebec racing fans by the thousands. The competition was so close, some international journalists wrote that the Montreal Grand Prix round was the highlight of the Formula 1 weekend. It helped that the young guns who came up from karting had some stars to challenge themselves against during the season. Among them was Canadian racing legend Richard Spenard, who proved, despite being 40 years older than some of his rivals, that he was still lit from within by the fire of competition.
The series announced that, starting with the 2016 season, its schedule would grow from six race weekends to eight and that three of those would be held in Ontario. Finally, for the first time, the Micra Cup would make a stop at the legendary Mosport circuit, now known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Safety equipment aside, the race mods are very minimal. The tiny hatchback receives a Nismo S Tune Suspension Kit, which includes upgraded springs and struts, Nismo front brake pads, Pirelli slicks, and upgraded wheels from Canadian company Fast Wheels. Like the current iteration of the Mazda MX-5 Cup, every Micra racer is built by a single shop, ensuring that the copies are as close to identical as possible and eliminating any competitor- induced hanky-panky.
While Canadian race fans are legitimately excited about the Micra Cup, enthusiasts south of the border haven’t had much to talk about: Nissan USA has chosen not to import the Mexican-built Micra to the States. However, Deshaies says that SCCA officials have recently been pushing him to bring the series south for a few exhibition races. Deshaies hap- pily admits that some events in the Northeast (think Lime Rock or The Glen) might be a perfect fit for the 2017 season.
Who knows? The Micra’s sales success in Canada might even be big enough to catch American brass’s attention. 
The series has made good use of a media car program, and during the week of the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, I had the opportunity to strap my rather round frame into one of the race cars for a test session.
It was the first time I had driven on slicks in decades, so I was cautious to build heat in the tires while getting a feel for the car’s limits. My initial thought was that the sticky tires were overwhelming the mild suspension, as the car squirmed like a ’69 Caddy at low speeds.
Building speed and confidence, I quickly learned why I captured so many photos of these cars on two wheels last season: That’s the only way to rotate them. Once you realize this and start hooning the car, jumping it over apex curbs, the Micra comes to life, practically begging the driver to make it fly.
Of course, the ragged-edge driving style needed to make these cars fast, coupled with a field of ultra-competitive racers, means that body repairs are frequent in the Micra Cup. Fortunately, body panels for these machines are just about the cheapest on the market.
Toyota did the same thing with the Echo hatch when it first appeared in Canada, called it the Echo cup.
Good idea, but $20k for that car? That sounds nuts to me.
10K (canadian) plus 10K (canadian) in mods.. sounds like cheap racing to me
I was just talking to a guy who sold an podium e30 for Chumpcar/AER with a spares package for 14k CAD.. < 20k for a new racecar sounds like a good value..
I guess I'm the only one old enough to remember Renault Cup racing. Laps around Road Atlanta timed with an hour glass.
I'm old enough to remember Honda Canada sponsoring the Honda Challenge in the late 70s, with the original Civics, bog stock. It was hilarious racing - tires howling, bump drafting, cornering on 2 or 3 wheels, brakes going away. It was much closer and more intense competition than in many of the 'senior' series, much the way all the iterations of Spec Miata are a couple of generations later.
I don't follow series racing all that closely, but isn't there a Spec Mazda2 series in the US or something? Could have sworn I saw something about that...
What ever happened to the Bspec class ?
I have a friend who raced in the Renault cup.
How do you fit $10k in mods in an econo box class like that?
That class was called Bspec and it died on the vine
Zomby Woof said:How do you fit $10k in mods in an econo box class like that?
probably not hard, tyres, rims, cage, tune, suspension, and prep. This not like how we build a race car, these are basically the same as just writing a cheque
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