40th anniversary of the Ski-Doo Grand Prix of Valcourt
After a Friday without an oval due to rain, the sun invigorated the event on Saturday. The grandstands and paddocks filled up like never before to give the Grand Prix the success it deserves.
Two years without a GPSV is a long time. The public was anxious to find what makes the charm of the competition: A ceaseless flow of diverse and varied races that one recognizes, (even if one is in line to buy his poutine), thanks to the sound signature of each type of vehicle:
- Sharp as a bee for the Ski-Doo’s spinning on the oval with their two-stroke engines.
- Just as sharp for the snocross bikes, but with interruptions when the machines jump and land on the MX track.
- Serious for the 450 4-stroke bikes, with a few two-stroke bikes from the 90s thrown in.
- Cavernous for the overpowered, overdeveloped quads that try to keep all four wheels scratched on the ice.
There are also the headliners we want to see. On the oval, it was Sabrina Blanchet, newly crowned Eagle River Vintage Derby World Champion!
But there is a love/hate relationship between Sabrina and the Valcourt oval in the Pro-Champ Queen category. Sabrina does everything she needs to do. She is having great races, winning qualifiers. On Sunday, she won 2 qualifications and placed second on the starting grid.
The start does not go very well. She is stuck between two snowmobiles and she sees the others escaping. She is 7th on the first lap, but she goes hunting. She is at one with her Ski-Doo, the helmet in the handlebars. We recognize her with her braid that flies in the wind. She uses the power of her engine to pass her competitors in a straight line, and she uses her experience to find the trajectory that makes the difference in the curves. Inexorably, Sabrina is moving up.
She was in 4th place, chasing Dale Dingman, when she raised her hand on the straightaway in front of the grandstands. White smoke comes out of the hood. Sabrina pulls over to the side of the track and walks away from the car, her head down. She is betrayed by the mechanics, a simple belt that shatters her dream, once again in Valcourt. But she will come back. Gaston Ferland’s little girl doesn’t have much to prove anymore. She has to win Valcourt in the Pro-Champ. That’s already her goal and we’ll see her next year so she can become the Lord of the Ring!
And this race should not make us forget the undisputed victory of the young Drumondvillian in the SuperMod 440 class, where she is the world champion, the first woman in history to obtain this distinction.
Coming back to the Pro field, the big winner was Blaine Stephenson from St-Cloud MN who obtained his first victory here and a world championship title.
In the Pro Formula 500, Nicolas Poudrier #16 finished first and proudly brings his trophy back to Lac Saint-Jean, where he usually races in the CVM series.
In Formula III, the battle of the titans was won by Matt Goede over Van Dolder and Tom Olson.
On the Snocross circuit meanwhile, the battle raged on in the heavy snow.
In the Pro final on Sunday, Elias Ishoel, the Norwegian who is leading the Pro Isoc series had escaped. Behind Francis Pelletier of the Warnert racing team was fighting against Hunter Patenaude, another pro in the Isoc series.
Jordan Lebel was upgraded from the Pro-Lite class to the Isoc class and is undefeated since the beginning of last season, having won all 6 races this year in the USA. He could have gone for a more likely win in Pro-Lite, but he preferred to compete in the premier class.
At 18 years old, the Chicoutimi driver is not afraid of the eyes and he is characterized by a strong will and an unfailing regularity that pushes him towards his ultimate goal: the ISOC pro title. At 18 years old, he still has time to make his dreams come true.
At the start of the final, Lebel did not get the best start and found himself in 5th place, first Pro-Lite behind four pros, Hunter Patenaude, Logan Christian, Francis Pelletier and the leader Elias Ishoel. Ishoel is in the lead and is dominating his subject.
Francis Pelletier, the Lebels’ colleague at Warnert Racing is behind, along with the other two pros.
Jordan, from his fifth place, increased the pace. One by one he passed the two pros with a great attitude. In the jumps, he goes higher and further. He is impressive with his technique and precision in the curves. He always finds the right trajectory.
At the finish, Elias Ishoel climbed to the top of the podium. Francis Pelletier finished second after a great battle against his colleagues from Isoc and finally Jordan Lebel completed the podium in 3rd place in front of Hunter Patenaude. Quebecers Théo Poirier and Emeric Legendre-Perron placed 6th and 7th respectively in this tough race!
In the Open Women’s race on Sunday, even if the transponders were not working properly, Naeli Lebel took the first place of the race with a nice lead. Naeli is the sister of Jordan and Dylan, and she is also a member of the Warnert Racing team.
On his side, Dylan Lebel, 14 years old, won the Sport final ahead of Trent Weir and Jacob Begin.
But he was not the youngest of the field, that honor went to Charlie Buteau, Mathieu Buteau’s daughter, who co-supervised the Snocross part with the SCMX association. At the age of ten, she took an honourable place in Valcourt in the 200 cc class. The final was won by Jacob Belzile, the son of Simon Belzile who works for BRP’s racing department.
In the Pro-Lite class, Nathan Mailloux finished third and Maxime Bellerive from Trois-Rivières won the Vet+30 class, followed by Jean-Sébastien Coté and Justin Gaudet.
The next race of the SCMX championship will be held on February 25, 2023 with the Shawinigan Snocross Grand Prix.
There was new blood in the organization of the GPSV with the new DG, Guillaume Cayer-Richard, with Dave Parizo in communications and still Laurence Renaud-Langevin in Marketing (we will not mention everyone, there are more than three hundred volunteers).
This brought one of the best editions of the last years and it is hopeful for the future editions of this forty years old and still dynamic event.
Fortieth edition of the Ski-Doo Grand Prix of Valcourt
