Press Release –

Nicholas Van Strydonk of Tomahawk, Wisconsin won today the 28th Grand Prix of Valcourt, presented by La Capitale General Insurance.

It was his first career Pro Champ Grand Prix win on Sunday at Valcourt’s Circuit Yvon Duhamel. 2010 World Champion Matt Schultz of Wausau, WI led the first four of the 15-lap affair, but he had to relinquish the lead to Jacques Villeneuve following a mechanical breakdown.

The Saint-Cuthbert driver led the next seven laps pursued by two-time defending champion Dustin Wahl from Greenbush, Minnesota. Entering corner four on lap 12, Wahl and Villeneuve touched, and they both went off-course. Wahl got up after the incident as did Villeneuve, but the latter was taken to the hospital for a precautionary check-up.

Following the race stoppage, Van Strydonk inherited the lead on the restart and led the final five laps to the checkered flag, followed by Travis MacDonald of Lackport, Manitoba.

His teammate Brian Bewcik from Winnipeg finished third ahead of Nick Lagoy from Morrisonville, NY. Jason Lavallée of Drummondville was the top Quebec finisher with a fifth place.

Sunday schedule began early with Saturday’s postponed Pro Champ finale because of the freezing rain with Dustin Wahl, Jacques Villeneuve, Matt Schultz, and Nicholas Van Strydonk, all winners in the heat qualifying races on Saturday, on the front row for the start of the race with eight other drivers also vying for the win.

Villeneuve took the lead on lap two but a red flag stopped the race when Félipe Roy-Lalonde of St-Jude, QC went off course in corner one. On the restart, Van Strydonk went first, and a few laps later Wahl passed Villeneuve for second, then Strydonk on his way to his first Pro Champ finale win of the weekend. 2010 World Champion Matt Schultz finished fourth, followed by Nick Lagoy.

In the other Sunday Grand Finale, Brett Turcotte of Clearwater, British Colombia took an easy win in the Snocross Pro Open race held Sunday to write his name in Valcourt Grand Prix record book.

Turcotte crossed the finish line ahead of Quebec riders Mathieu Morin of Val d’Or, Dave Allard of St-Félicien, and Dave Asselin of La Doré. However, Mathieu’s second place finish gave him enough points to win the final leg of the Triple Crown with 420 points to 370 for Bobby Lepage of St. Johnsville, NY who finished eight in the race.

Back to the ice oval Eastern Pro Tour championship. Winner at Valcourt in 2008 and 2009, Serge Ouellet of Lachute, QC made it three in-a-row in 2010 winning the 10-lap Pro Formula 500 class race to stretch his lead in the championship standings over Dustin Gehrke of Morrisonville, NY who finished fifth in the race. Ouellet won his fifth class race of the season over Ontario riders Rob Sheppard of Mindemoya and Ben Harris from Douglas. Andrew Spencer of Rome, NY finished fourth.

Maxime Sylvestre of Joliette, QC, won the motocross 450cc 12-lap race ahead of Karl Daigle of Sherbrooke, QC. Starting second, Sylvestre moved past Daigle for lead on lap 10 to win Sunday’s feature motocross race. Daniel Desbiens from L’Ange Gardien, QC finished third. Desbiens caused a red flag on lap three when he went off course in corner two of the ice oval track. Starting at the back of the field, he went by five other riders on the restart lap, to move into third place but was unable to catch the leaders.

In ATV action, Richard Pelchat of Saint Romuald, QC led from the green to win ahead of Jean-François Thériault of St-Côme. Thériault challenged Pelchat at the start of the race, but was no match for the winner who crossed the finish line with a fairly good lead at the end of 10 laps. Jasmin Plante of Notre-Dame du Bon Conseil moved past Marc-Antoine Auger of Laurier Station with two laps to go to finish third.

Lincoln Lemieux of St. Johnsbury, Vermont won Sunday’s Camoplast Snocross Championship Semi-Pro Super Stock 600 class 12-lap race. The American rider won over Pierre-Vincent Fillion of Desbiens, QC. Fillion’s second place finish moved him into first place of the Semi Pro Super Stock 600 class ahead of Donovan Asselin who finished eighth in the race. Dex Savage of Chibougamau, QC took third place ahead of Chris Ackerman from Jericho, Vermont and Franky Paré of Roberval, QC.

The 29th edition of the Grand Prix de Valcourt will be held February 18-19 and 20, 2011.

Press Release –

BRP, in partnership with its Ski-Doo dealer network, has generated a staggering $720,000 for snowmobile clubs across North America. The funds will help clubs with trail grooming, improvements to trail infrastructures and other promotional activities.

An advertising campaign placed in all markets across the U.S. and Canada required club members to simply submit a completed certificate – valued at $10, with 100% going to their local club – to a BRP dealer.

The top four clubs with the highest participation rate were awarded a new 2010 Ski-Doo MXZ or Summit snowmobile. The successful program, which was launched in September 2009, quickly generated nearly 65,000 certificates resulting in the additional funding support.

“We are quite pleased with the results of this program,” stated Yves Leduc, vice-president and general manager, North American division. “BRP understands that the heartbeat of the snowmobile community is its volunteers. We were there at the beginning when the trail network was built and we are proud to continue contributing to the sport with efforts such as the Club Support program,” Leduc concluded.

BRP’s Ski-Doo Club Support program initially started in Canada as a grass roots effort to raise funds for local clubs. It was so successful that BRP expanded into the U.S. and has now provided additional funding to over 1,650 clubs in North America.

Participating Ski-Doo dealers have proclaimed an improved relationship with their local clubs and associations as a direct result of the Club Support program.

Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP), a privately-held company, is a world leader in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of motorised recreational vehicles. Its portfolio of brands and products includes: Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and sport boats, Evinrude and Johnson outboard engines, direct injection technologies such as E-TEC, Can-Am all-terrain vehicles and roadsters, as well as Rotax engines and karts. With manufacturing facilities on three continents, BRP products are distributed in more than 80 countries.

Press Release –

Iain Hayden was in top form at Round 3 of the CSRA Snocross Championship at Georgian Downs in Barrie this past weekend.

The team Monster Energy-Yamaha-OTSFF Racing ace garnered a solid second place in the Open Pro final in defence of his current lead in the points chase.

In Saturday’s qualifying, Hayden piloted his four-stroke Yamaha FX Nytro to a holeshot in the first heat of the Royal Distributing Cup, which he led till a red flag stopped the race.

On the restart Hayden claimed another holeshot but by the end of the race he found himself taking satisfaction with a second place finish.

In the second round of qualifiers on Sunday, Hayden poured on the gas to nail down a win in the first race and another noteworthy second place in heat two.

Buoyed by his top qualifier results and a front row starting position, Hayden shot out of the gate in the final to secure yet another holeshot.

But main rival in the series and defending Pro Open Champion, Lee Butler, had every intention of staying with Hayden and he did so from the time they dove into the first turn. It was obviously going to be a two-sled race.

The two champions set such a blistering pace vying for the lead that by the time the checkered was waved they had gapped the chase group by at least half a lap on the deteriorating track.

A couple of errors by Hayden in the heat of battle, however, saw Butler grab the lead towards the end of the race and stay there with Hayden coming in for a close second.

“The track was hard on equipment but we got through the weekend with top two finishes every time out and that says a lot about the Yamaha FX Nytro. We’re still up there for the points chase and with two rounds left on the schedule we’re in good shape,” said Hayden.

Press Release –

Crushing the Competition in USCC Cross-Country

It was a weekend that will go down as one of the greatest in Team Arctic history.

With two USCC cross-country races on tap, Team Arctic racers went on a winning spree that might never again be equaled: taking 15 of 18 class victories in Grand Forks and 14 of 18 wins in Fargo.

Add a class win at the ISOC National snocross in New Hampshire, and this Valentine weekend was a victory love-fest of epic proportions.

Cross-country Pro racer and Arctic Cat engineer Brian Dick delivered an all-star performance, winning the Pro 600 class at both events, plus taking a first and second in the Pro Open classes, his teammate D.J. Ekre squeaking past for the Open win and three more podium finishes.

With three-of-four Semi Pro class victories, the top-9 in both Expert 85 classes and a Team Arctic podium sweep of 14 classes over the weekend, it’s never been more apparent that Arctic Cat owns cross-country racing.

“Our commitment to win in the most demanding terrain is unmatched and our Sno Pro 600 and 500s are the perfect sleds to win with,” said Mike Kloety, Team Arctic Race Manager.

He added, “Brian taking three of four Pro classes is a huge step for him. Teams like Brother’s Motorsports Racing have brought massive support and winning results. And our individual racers and crew members have reinvigorated the sport’s truest form of competition while completely dominating it.”

While the cross-country team swept the North Dakota rounds of the USCC schedule, Team Arctic snocross racers rolled into the ISOC New England Nationals in Salem, NH, where Factory Team pilot Kyle Pallin took his second Semi Pro Stock victory in two weeks.

Pallin’s win was bolstered by the podium finishes of Logan Christian in Semi Pro Stock and Open, as well as Cory Davis’ third in Pro Open.

“Nineteen podium finishes in snocross coupled with 30 total victories is a weekend that might never be matched by a single team,” said Kloety.

The next ISOC National snocross race is Feb. 19-21 in Sarnia, Ontario, while USCC cross-country resumes Feb. 27-28 in Munising, Michigan.