Valcourt, Québec – February 18, 2012 – There was plenty of action in front of a full house for the several divisions competing on Saturday at the 2012 Grand Prix Ski-doo of Valcourt presented by La Capitale General Insurance. Three major races were held at the conclusion of the day, with the big wins going again to Joel Diamond of Lapeer, Michigan, in the Eastern Pro Tour Pro Champ Class, and Tim Tremblay of Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc, Quebec, who was also a repeat winner in the snocross Open Class.
Diamond was one of the four winners in the Pro Champ heat races that led to Saturday’s finale. The American rider led from the start of the 12-lap main event, and was never really bothered by the 2012 World Champion Nick Van Strydonk from Tomahawk, Wisconsin and Dustin Wahl of Greenbush, Minnesota. They finished second and third, respectively. Jacques Villeneuve, a winner in one of the previous heat races, finished fifth behind Malcolm Chartier of Marine City, Michigan.
In the snocross major event of the day, Tim Tremblay once again led the field at the finish line, but unlike his win on Friday, he had to play catch-up in order to register his fourth consecutive Open Class win at Valcourt, which dates back to last year. Lincoln Lemieux of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, got off to a great start leading the first four laps until he spun off while under pressure from Danny Poirier who took over the lead on lap 5. The St. Theodore d’Acton rider kept Tremblay at bay for the next four circuits around the four tenths of a mile snocross track, but the latter finally got by Poirier with three laps to go during a high jump, to register the win. Derek Ellis of West Fargo, North Dakota, took third place ahead of Justin Broberg of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Dave Allard of St-Félicien, Quebec. Lemieux ended up in eighth place.
In the snocross Pro Lite Open, Jeff Sanftenberg from Skeed, Ontario, took an easy win in the 10-lap race, crossing the finish line ahead of Devin Wilson of Hillsburgh, Ontario, and Mike Pilotte de Fall River, Massachussetts.
Other winners in the snowmobile ice racing classes were Cole McMichael from Lefroy, Ontario, who edged Felipe Roy-Lalonde from St-Jude, Quebec, and Dustin Gehrke from Morrisonville, New York, in the Semi Pro Champ class. In the Sport Formula 500, Sebastien Roy of Haileybury, Ontario, got the best of veteran Ski-doo rider Gaston Ferland from Québec City and Cody Zadow from Eganville, Ontario. In the Junior F340 for kids 10 to 13, Danick Lambert from Sorel, Quebec, was a winner over Dale Dingham of Burk’s Falls, Ontario.
The Grand Prix of Valcourt will conclude on Sunday with 52 races, including 16 finales, in snocross, ice oval snowmobile, ATV and motorcycles.General admission tickets for the 30th running of the Grand Prix of Valcourt are still available at the track ticket office. To learn more about the weekend festivities, schedule and ticket packages, fans can visit http://www.grandprixvalcourt.com/.
Located a mere 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Sherbrooke, Québec, Valcourt is 90 minutes away from Montréal and around two and a half hours from Plattsburg, New York, Burlington, and a little more from Montpelier, Vermont and Laconia New Hampshire. The track’s civic address is 917, Route 22 in Maricourt.