MISSISSAUGA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 12, 2024--
The Nissan Sentra Cup’s 10 th season entered it’s second half this weekend with two new races that took place as part of the fifty-fourth edition of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. Both were eventful; with the first race won by Valerie Limoges and the second by Éric Chaput.
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Following Friday’s intense rainfall, summer weather returned on Saturday where the first race was carried out in front of packed grandstands. Qualifying in pole position the day before, 2023 champion Alexandre Fortin was joined in front row by Valérie Limoges, leader of the drivers’ championship, past winner of two GP3R races (both Nissan Sentra Cup) and 2022 champion. Frédérick Chaput, Mathieu Miron, Éric Chaput and Nicolas Barrette complete the top six.
An uneventful start saw Fortin narrowly managing to hold onto first place. However, not even five minutes later, Valérie Limoges overtook him in a spectacular turn of events, taking control of the seventh race in the season. No one was able to catch up to her as she inched towards her third win in Trois-Rivières (a record for a female driver) and in the 2024 Nissan Sentra Cup season.
Following her, the leaderboard changed every lap. Having missed a corner, Alexandre Fortin fell from second to tenth place while Mathieu Miron, having secured his first two victories in the series three weeks earlier, took second place. Third on the starting grid, Frédérick Chaput, managed to maintain his position all 40 minutes of the race, ahead of Nicolas Barrette, who fought hard throughout, exchanging positions with Éric Chaput, Frédérick’s father, seven times. Barrette managed to give himself a lead by a few tenths in the final laps, claiming fourth place, who later climbed to third place following Frédérick Chaput’s disqualification due to technical infraction. Nicolas Miron has been classified fourth, followed by Éric Chaput, Sylvain Vincent, Alexandre Fortin, Jean-François Couture, Raphaël St-Pierre et Steve Poulin.
On Sunday, still under the sun, fans have seen one of the most beautiful races in the history of the series, with the top eight swapping positions lap after lap. Alexandre Fortin, Valérie Limoges, Mathieu Miron, Nicolas Barrette and Éric Chaput took the lead, in that order. During a restart with two laps to go, Barrette seemed set to take his second victory of the season but he was the victim of contact with Éric Chaput and dropped to tenth place. Resisting pressure from Mathieu Miron until the last turn, Éric Chaput won his first victory in the series. Valérie Limoges completed the podium, ahead of Nicolas Lévesque, Simon Vincent, Frédérick Chaput, Raphaël St-Pierre, Jean Audet, Nicolas Barrette and Jean-François Couture.
This weekend also gave spectators the opportunity to see two Nissan dealership owners on the track, Steve Poulin (Nissan Thetford) who is competing the entire season, and Luc Beaudoin (Ste-Foy and Beauport Nissan), who was making his motorsport debut. There are now three Sentra’s wrapped in Beaudoin’s dealership colours, including Daniel and Alexandre Fortin. Luc Beaudoin managed to complete both races in 14 th and then in 15 th position, thus gaining valuable experience. For his part, Steve Poulin competed two very good races, without making any mistakes and finishing tenth and then fourteen.
In the 2024 Nissan Sentra Cup Championship standings, Valérie Limoges has increased her lead in first place, ahead of Nicolas Barrette and Alexandre Fortin. Mathieu Miron is now fourth, ahead of Simon Vincent. These five drivers can still legitimately compete for the title.
For more information on the Nissan Sentra Cup, visit coupesentra.com and the series’ social media channels. To relive the 2023 season on video, visit the Nissan Sentra Cup YouTube page.
For more information on the Nissan Sentra Cup, visit the sentracup.com website and the series' social media channels. To relive the 2023 season events in video, visit the Nissan Sentra Cup YouTube page.
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2024 CALENDAR – NISSAN SENTRA CUP
The podium of Sunday's race, with the first career victory of Éric Chaput, ahead of Mathieu Miron and Valérie Limoges. (Photo: Business Wire)
Victorious in Saturday's race in front of Mathieu Miron, Valérie Limoges increased her lead in first place in the drivers’ standings. (Photo: Business Wire)
LONDON (AP) — Daniel Dubois didn't have to dethrone anyone to become a world heavyweight champion. So he has something to prove when he makes his first title defense before one of the biggest crowds in British boxing history.
If he successfully defends his IBF belt on Saturday by beating fellow Briton Anthony Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, Dubois might just transform himself into boxing’s next big thing.
“I’m getting used to the idea that I’m the world champion but I think I need to legitimize it by beating AJ," Dubois told The Associated Press in an interview. “That’s the way I do it and cement my name, cement my legacy in the sport of boxing.”
The 27-year-old Dubois was awarded the belt in late June after then-undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine relinquished it.
He knows that most boxing fans — the British ones in particular — want to see Joshua become a three-time champion to set up a long-anticipated showdown with Tyson Fury.
But the hard-punching Dubois — a south London native who has been boxing since the age of 7 — has plans of his own.
“Make him quit, break him down, unleash hell on him,” Dubois said of his strategy for fight night.
Nicknamed “Dynamite,” the 6-foot-5 (1.95-meter) Dubois has had obstacles to overcome on his path to Wembley.
He hopes to make the 34-year-old Joshua quit but Dubois himself had to answer questions about quitting after he took a knee and was counted out in the 10th round against Joe Joyce on November 2020. That was his first professional loss.
Dubois' left eye had been swollen shut — there was an orbital bone fracture and nerve damage.
He bounced back by winning four straight bouts to earn a title shot at Usyk last summer. The fight was held in Poland, where many Ukrainians have taken refuge because of Russia's invasion of their country.
With huge support from his compatriots, Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round. Boxing is never far from controversy and this fight had its share: Dubois had dropped the champion in the fifth round but the referee ruled it a low blow and allowed Usyk several minutes to recover.
Since then, Dubois responded with two knockout victories. Despite being comfortably ahead of 333-pound Jarrell Miller, Dubois piled on the pressure in the final round, getting the stoppage in the final seconds of the bout. Dubois bloodied Filip Hrgovic early and stopped the Croatian in the eighth round.
The impressive win over Hrgovic in early June gave Dubois the “interim” title weeks before Usyk relinquished the belt. It also means 20 of his 21 wins have come via knockouts. The only time he went to points was six years ago in his eighth professional fight.
Back in 2017, it was then 27-year-old Joshua who spectacularly knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in a title fight at Wembley in front of 90,000 fans.
Dubois says it's his turn.
“This is my time now, and I’m ready to take it with both hands, show the world what I’m all about," he said, pointing to a Usyk rematch as his next goal even though the Ukrainian has talked about returning to cruiserweight after his Dec. 21 rematch with Tyson Fury.
He also wants to make his family proud. His father, Dave Dubois, raised 11 children in a household where sports and music dominated. Dubois says he doesn't play any instruments or sing though. His younger sister Caroline Dubois is also a successful pro boxer.
Officially, it’s the first time they’ll square off but Dubois and Joshua had a much-debated sparring session about a decade ago. It seems clear that Dubois caught Joshua — who two years earlier had won gold for Britain at the London Olympics — with a good punch, but beyond that it’s just rumors. Promoter Frank Warren has said that sparring session led him to sign Dubois.
“Sparring is sparring, this is a fight. It bears no relevance to today,” Dubois said. “It was good for me at the time, but I’m a new man, a new fighter now. I’ve put that behind me. I’m the man of the future.”
He suspects most of the crowd — and perhaps many of those watching on DAZN's streaming service — will be on AJ’s side.
“They probably will be overlooking me," he said. "It’s up to me to prove them wrong."
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
British boxer Anthony Joshua arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
FILE - Britain's Daniel Dubois, left, and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk during their world heavyweight title fight at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)
FILE - British former world champion Anthony Joshua, right, and MMA fighter Francis Ngannou fight during the heavyweight boxing showdown at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo, file)
British boxer Daniel Dubois arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
British boxer Daniel Dubois arrives at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, Tuesday Sept.17, 2024. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)
