The drag track – a great challenge through the years
The drag track – a great challenge through the years
1994

A number of drag racing enthusiasts had asked the organization of the Grand Prix Ski-doo de Valcourt to add this discipline to the general program, which was done with great enthusiasm in 2011. The implementation has been a challenge a few times, but the GPSV team have worked hard to improve this event over the past few years.  

In 2013, despite a change in sanction a few days before the event, the show still took place! 

In 2014: As a big novelty this year, we reached an agreement with the TSR circuit which would fully manage the drag races scheduled for Friday evening. This new agreement would allow us to offer our spectators a list of the world’s best pilots from the 6 disciplines presented during the event. In addition, this agreement allowed athletes to accumulate points by running on our drag track. They then became eligible to perhaps win said championship at the end of the year. Unfortunately, the weather caused the cancellation of the drag races during this edition.  

In 2015, three corridors were developed and sanctioned by TSR. Dominique Beauchesne was at the entertainment! Although the track was not in optimal conditions due to the mild weather, the event still went well. 

In 2016, it was the year of adjustments, two corridors were developed and 99 registrations were recorded. The temperature being on our side, the track was impeccable! 

2017 was the best year for the drag track! It was very cold and the snow was hard so the ride was better. The acceleration track had been sanctioned by the GPSV and two corridors had been developed. The competitions were held on Saturday and more than 60 registrations, including 35 snowmobilers, were registered. The lighting system, the entertainment offered, the host in the stands and a 4.920-second journey completed by Stéphane Beauregard led to the success of this event. 

In 2018, several pitfalls allow us to observe that the installation of the acceleration track is an event in itself that requires a lot of involvement in addition to other competitions. Moving the two corridors involves a lot of work. In addition, the light system was faulty during the event. Fortunately, a replacement system had been put in place fairly quickly. On the track side, it had been completed on Saturday rather than Friday and unfortunately almost half of the sand used to complete the track was frozen.  

In the following years, drag was withdrawn from the program in order to put in place a better strategy and to make the necessary adjustments before relaunching this discipline.