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Cutline: Valérie Limoges (middle) is the first female driver to win the Nissan Sentra Cup
Last weekend, history was written in the finale for the 2022 Nissan Sentra Cup spec racing series. The 40-minute race, which took place on Sunday was won by Simon Charbonneau, and the 50 points he earned for the victory was enough to secure second place on the season podium.
The bigger story, however, happened down in third place on Sunday, where Valérie Limoges of Montreal’s South Shore earned 42 points for a season total of 482 and top spot on the podium. That makes her the first woman to ever win a class title in a Canadian road racing series.
That’s a neat title to have, but for Limoges, 39, there’s more to it than that.
“I’ve been doing this for so long,” said Limoges, who’s been racing since the age of 12. “I don’t look at myself as ‘I’m the only girl doing this’. When you race, you always want to win. I just wanted to win a championship, and that’s what we did.“
“We were really happy with what we did this year. The 12 races were pretty consistent and strong.” She finished no lower than eighth in any races throughout the season, that one low finish coming at Circuit Trois Rivières.
She did admit, however, that there’s something to be said of the “first woman” title.
“There aren’t a lot of women – well, none – that have done it yet,” she said. “So it was nice to be the first one.”
The Sentra Cup is contested from May to September on tracks across Quebec and Ontario. Each vehicle entered gets the same power, weight, tires and componentry, with the main differences being the changes a team might make to the suspension or camber. That makes for some close white-knuckle racing across a level playing field, with plenty of contact and photo finishes.
Also on the track throughout the year is the Micra division – same spec-racing idea, but with the smaller discontinued Nissan Micra hatchback – and it also featured a woman on the championship podium in Marie Soleil-Labelle, who finished second.
As for next year, will Limoges be back in the driver’s seat?
“Yes, I would like to. I’d like to have the number 1 written on the car,” she said.
“If I can do it again, why not?”
It’s a competitive series, so she has her work cut out for her in defending the title. It gets going again in May of 2023.
Last weekend, history was written in the finale for the 2022 Nissan Sentra Cup spec racing series. The 40-minute race, which took place on Sunday was won by Simon Charbonneau, and the 50 points he earned for the victory was enough to secure second place on the season podium.
The bigger story, however, happened down in third place on Sunday, where Valérie Limoges of Montreal’s South Shore earned 42 points for a season total of 482 and top spot on the podium. That makes her the first woman to ever win a class title in a Canadian road racing series.
That’s a neat title to have, but for Limoges, 39, there’s more to it than that.
“I’ve been doing this for so long,” said Limoges, who’s been racing since the age of 12. “I don’t look at myself as ‘I’m the only girl doing this’. When you race, you always want to win. I just wanted to win a championship, and that’s what we did.“
“We were really happy with what we did this year. The 12 races were pretty consistent and strong.” She finished no lower than eighth in any races throughout the season, that one low finish coming at Circuit Trois Rivières.
She did admit, however, that there’s something to be said of the “first woman” title.
“There aren’t a lot of women – well, none – that have done it yet,” she said. “So it was nice to be the first one.”
The Sentra Cup is contested from May to September on tracks across Quebec and Ontario. Each vehicle entered gets the same power, weight, tires and componentry, with the main differences being the changes a team might make to the suspension or camber. That makes for some close white-knuckle racing across a level playing field, with plenty of contact and photo finishes.
Also on the track throughout the year is the Micra division – same spec-racing idea, but with the smaller discontinued Nissan Micra hatchback – and it also featured a woman on the championship podium in Marie Soleil-Labelle, who finished second.
As for next year, will Limoges be back in the driver’s seat?
“Yes, I would like to. I’d like to have the number 1 written on the car,” she said.
“If I can do it again, why not?”
It’s a competitive series, so she has her work cut out for her in defending the title. It gets going again in May of 2023.
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