Iain Hayden, Colby Crapo, Danny Poirier, Lincoln Lemieux, Dave Allard and Donavan Asselin are some of the big names in their respective series that will be competing for top honours during the three days of snocross racing at the 32nd running of the Grand Prix Ski-Doo of Valcourt presented by Intact Insurance February 14-16, 2014. For the past couple of seasons, the CSRA, the ECS and the SCMX, the three most important professional snocross series in the Eastern part of Canada and the United States, have all added Valcourt on their racing schedule, providing Grand Prix fans the opportunity to see the best riders in action.
Hayden has become of late the man to beat in the Canadian Snocross Racing Association (CSRA), a series that mainly runs its events in Ontario, but has added a second race in Quebec this year. Since 2010, the athlete from Holland Centre, Ontario has won the last four Pro Open titles, and this year, he is leading his class after six races. His main opponents are Maxime Taillefer of Laval, Quebec and Colby Crapo of Bresleau, Ontario. Crapo and Cory Watkinson of Port Carling (ON) have however won two races each to Hayden's one. Watkinson also runs in the ISOC Series where he is currently in third place in Pro Lite.
Since 2010, Iain Hayden from Holland Centre, Ontario has become the man to beat in the CSRA and has won the last four Pro Open titles.
Photo credit: Hani Ferland, Courtesy of Grand Prix of Valcourt
A local star in Valcourt, Danny Poirier has been competing in the U.S. East Coast Snocross (ECS) Series for more than 12 years where he won six Pro titles and his first two Pro Lite championships back in 2002. Poirier and Matt Morin of Val d'Or (QC) are teammates this year at Ingles Performance and have won seven of the 10 races. With five wins, Poirier leads the standings by 44 points over Lincoln Lemieux of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, winner of two main finales. Mike Pilotte of Falls River, Massachusetts, the 2013 Pro Lite champion making his Pro debut, Jake daSilva of Salem, New Hampshire also a new Pro Lite graduate and Kevin Wallenstein of Cadillac, Michigan, who also competes on a regular basis in the ISOC Pro Lite Series, are coming along strong in Pro Open.
Dave Allard, a veteran rider in the Quebec-based Super Compétitions Motorisées Xtreme, is the leader of the SCMX Series with no less than 10 Pro Class titles since the turn of the millennium. But the Val d'Or (QC) resident now has competition from Donavan Asselin, an up and coming rider who made the move to the Pro Class in 2012. Runner-up last year, the Lac Saint-Jean region rider leads the Pro Open 2 Class this year ahead of Allard.
Maxime Taillefer of Laval, Quebec, currently second in the CSRA Pro Open Standings with four podium finishes in six starts, is looking for his first win this year. Photo credit: Sébastien Desbordes, courtesy of Grand Prix of Valcourt
However, the top guns from the three Eastern Series will have their hands full in Valcourt where they will face riders from the Ski-Doo teams competing in the International Series of Champions (ISOC), the major American snocross championship series. Leading the pack is Tim Tremblay from Lac Saint-Jean along with Swedes Johan Lidman and Peter Narsa as well as New York born Darrin Mees. ISOC riders have won the last nine daily final races at Valcourt since 2011 with seven of them going to Tremblay. Matt Morin (ECS) was the last in 2010 to break the string of ISOC triumphs at Valcourt.
The SCMX and ECS top riders will have a date of their own on Friday as 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 these Series.
On top of the snocross action, 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 Sunday.
Everyone is invited to attend, free of charge after 3:00 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 noon. 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 showdown scheduled 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 will be plenty of fun and games for the whole family, including slides for children and kiddy snowmobile rides and live on-site rock bands for the grown-ups.
