A Redesigned Snocross Track Layout and a Giant TV Screen for the Fans
At the annual Grand Prix of Valcourt Press Conference held Wednesday at the J.Armand Bombardier Museum, Donald Lemay, President of the 32nd Edition, announced that fans attending the event at Circuit Yvon Duhamel this February 14-16 will see all the action on track thanks to the addition of a giant screen right across from the grandstands. Every race, including replays, will be broadcast. Every television set in the heated suites as well as all those in the big tops will be connected to the live feed. The organization has also redesigned the snocross track layout and has added three triple jumps and faster straight lines to test the technical ability of each athlete. When they reconfigured the track, the designer made sure that spectators would have a clear view of all the corners and jumps.
“We have already spent 250 hours producing artificial snow for the snocross track which will now be laid out and groomed by the snowcat according to the new layout design,” said Donald Lemay, President of the 32nd edition of the Grand Prix Ski-Doo of Valcourt presented by Intact Insurance. “Workers have moved the snowmaking gun to the Xtreme Zone, near the Big Top, in order to manufacture more snow for the landing slope for the freestylers and for the two snowmobile drag strips. We have also been busy building the ice oval track, which is now 16 inches thick, enough to face any severe weather change.”
From left to right, Quebec snowmobile riders Danny Poirier of Saint-Théodore-d’Acton, Steven Marquis of Cookshire and Jacques Villeneuve of Saint-Cuthbert attended the press conference launching the 2014 Grand Prix of Valcourt presided again this year by Donald Lemay standing next to Villeneuve.
Photo credit: Sebastien Desbordes, courtesy of the Grand Prix of Valcourt
Again this year, perfect track conditions will be the norm in Valcourt. On another note, snowmobile and All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) enthusiasts will be glad to hear that snow trails leading to the Grand Prix site are open and that on January 26, conditions ranged from fair to good. In the past few years, some of the trails were not open or conditions ranged from bad to worse. Hopefully, snow will continue to fall and improve trail conditions.
The Grand Prix was also praised by Alexandre Meunier, President of the Eastern Township Division of the Fondation québécoise En Coeur, for the more than $165,000 in financial support volunteer workers at the Grand Prix have collected over the past 20 years to make a difference for children with a heart disease.
Open House Day
Starting at noon on Thursday February 13, everyone is invited to access free of charge Circuit Yvon Duhamel located at 917, Route 222 in Maricourt (J0L 2L2) for the Open House Day. Fans will be able to watch ice oval and snocross racers as they practice all afternoon long for the big weekend. Fans can also walk the paddocks to meet their favourite riders or simply walk into the Heated Suites to watch the action.
A Full Weekend of Motorsport Racing Activities Awaits Fans
The 32nd running of the Grand Prix Ski-Doo of Valcourt presented by Intact Insurance will again offer fans a full weekend of racing activities featuring six types of winter motorsport competitions. From Friday to Sunday, the world’s best ice oval track snowmobile racers, including Quebec’s Jacques Villeneuve, Malcom Chartier, of Marine City, Michigan, Dustin Wahl of Greenbush Minnesota, Dustin Gherke from Morrisonville, NY, and defending Valcourt champion Nicholas Van Strydonk of Tomahawk, Wisconsin, will showcase their talents as they attempt to win the big prize.
On Friday, Valcourt will be the site of the grand finale of the Triple Crown Snocross Classic featuring the top Pro, Pro Lite and Sport class riders from the American East Coast Snocross (ECS) Series and the Quebec SCMX Series. For three days, spectators will also witness the feats of the top professional snocross riders of the Eastern United Stated and Canada, including competitors from the Canadian CSRA Series and riders from the Ski-Doo teams competing in the ISOC Series, as they battle for top honours in the Pro Open class.
Everyone is invited to attend, free of charge after 4:00 p.m., the Friday night under the lights Round 2 of the professional Top Speed Racing Snowmobile Drag Racing Series. Amateur drag racing competition will begin at 1:00 p.m. for those who wish to test their snowmobiles in straight-line racing. Included on the program for Saturday and Sunday are the daredevil motorcycle and ATV racing riders competing on the Yvon Duhamel ice oval speed track. On Saturday, Xtreme enthusiasts can attend the highflying freestyle snocross show schedule to start at 6:00 p.m. in the Xtreme Zone. This year, Quebec riders will face off against American Freestyers from Maine. Admission to the Freestyle Snocross exhibition is $15 per person after 4:00 p.m., and free of charge for Grand Prix of Valcourt ticket holders. There is plenty of fun and games for the whole family, including slides for kids and live on-site rock bands.
General Admission Tickets Still Available On-line
Fans of the great outdoors can still buy an all-inclusive, three-day general admission pass at a reduced price of $45 instead of $55, taxes included, until February 11, 2014. A minimum service charge of $1 is added for each ticket ordered online or by phone. Tickets are available online at https://www.grandprixvalcourt.com/en/billets/ or by phone at 1-866-532-7553 or 1-450-532-3443. Daily general admission tickets are also on sale at $10 each for Friday and $30 each for Saturday and Sunday. The heated Grand Prix Suites tickets are sold out. Accompanied by an adult, children under 12 are admitted free on the Grand Prix site. However this offer does not apply for the heated suites.
