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 HISTORY
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Let's take a few steps back and look at history
At the beginning of the 1980s, the Grand Prix St-Laurent, held in Montreal, became no longer appealing to its fan base. Its urban setting was also no longer suitable for such a high-level snowmobile racing event.
 In 1983, the Quebec Federation of snowmobile clubs (FCMQ) set in motion a plan to move the high profile event to an area that would appeal to all snow riders and snowmobile race fans from the province of Quebec and its surrounding area. Their mission was to recreate an event that would be festive and competitive.
Therefore, the seeds of the first-ever Festival international de la motoneige (FIM) were planted.
There was only the matter of finding a suitable location for an event of this magnitude. After scouring the entire province of Quebec for a new site, the FCMQ settled on what seemed to be the ideal location: the community of Valcourt, known to the world as the birthplace of snowmobile.
On February 11-13, 1983, the first edition of the FIM was held, thanks in part to Bombardier, a major partner of the Festival from the very beginning. The response was staggering. More than ten thousands snow riders from across North America converged to Valcourt. Never before had so many snowmobilers gathered at a location for a weekend of racing.
The enthusiasm reached a peak. The event became the largest gathering of snowmobile riders ever to be held. They swept the trails of the surrounding area, and the streets of Valcourt were temporarily modified into snowmobile paths.
The Bombardier factory was transformed into a giant reception hall, where 4,000 people assembled to watch a spectacular show. More than 15,000 spectators watched the races held on Bombardier's snowmobile testing facilities.
Over the years, the Festival International de la Motoneige changed its name to the Grand Prix de Valcourt, and is now known as the Grand Prix Ski-Doo de Valcourt (GPSV). Besides racing, the GPSV also stages activities for the whole family and holds cultural events around town. Snocross races were added to the program in 1999, followed by motocross ice racing in 2003. In 2010, ATV Quad riders were invited to compete in Valcourt.
The GPSV owes its success to sponsors and patrons but also to its more than 250 volunteers as well to the local population who always gave the fans a heart-warming welcome.
Even though many events of the kind have been created since, the Grand Prix Ski-Doo de Valcourt remains the most important snowmobile racing event in North America.
Some anecdotes:
- To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ski-Doo snowmobile in 1984, a giant 25 square foot, six-inch-thick cake was served during the Grand Prix. Over 3,000 hungry fans ate the cake enabling the affair to go into Guinness Book of World Records. The following year, an open-air pig roast fed 1,500 persons.
- In 1986, Quebec international star André-Philippe Gagnon headlined the Saturday evening show. At the peak of his career, Gagnon attracted a record crowd of 4,000 people.
- Not everything planned for the Grand Prix turns out to be a success story. From time to time Mother Nature throws a tantrum or two. In 1988, a group of volunteers built a superb ice castle, but warm weather a week before the event made the ice-slide located inside the castle a casualty of the heat.
- The 17th edition of the Grand Prix held in 1999 looked like it would be a record year with the introduction of snocross competition, great weather, and a huge crowd on hand. Unfortunately, a horrible accident cast a shadow over the Grand Prix with the tragic death of rider Jim Herzig during the final day of racing.
- In 2005 and 2006, Jacques Villeneuve won back-to-back victories. The crowd went wild each time and rose to its feet like it never had before.
- Over the past 27 years of Grand Prix action, there have been several close battles for the win in the F1 ice oval events. Gary Vessair (4 wins) of Honey Harbour, ON and Dave Wahl (also with 4 wins) of Greenbush, Minnesota were always in a tight battle for the glory. One year, they crossed the finish line nose-to-nose. A photo finish was needed to see who was the victor. Dave Wahl won that battle by 10 centimeters. Speaking of the Wahls... Terry Wahl, Dave's nephew, holds the F1 Grand Prix de Valcourt record for consecutive wins with five. He set the record between 1995 and 1999. He added a sixth win in 2003 to lead the F1 class. Now, there is a new Wahl from Greenbush in town. His first name: Dustin. He won the last two F1 Grand Prix races.
- Prior to his injuries during a motocross event in 2008, Blair Morgan of Prince Albert (SK) was the prince of snocross, winning the first six races held in Valcourt from 1999 to 2004. The Ski-Doo rider earned two more victories in 2006 and 2007. With a total of eight snocross wins, no one is yet to beat his class record, at least not until 2018, that is if a rider can manage nine wins in a row. In the motocross ice class, Dominic Beaulac of Daveluyville, QC is the all time leader with four wins since the inception of that class at Valcourt in 2003.
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