End of the Line for Trois-Rivieres Written by: RACER staff Trois-Rivieres, Quebec – 10/27/2003
A long-time fixture on the North American road racing landscape has fallen victim to economic woes. Léon Méthot, the organizer of the Grand Prix de Trois Rivières, has announced that the famous Canadian street race has been canceled, due to lack of sufficient funding. The race, located in the city of Trois Rivières halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, has featured events for Formula Atlantic, Can-Am, IMSA, Trans-Am and ALMS sports car over the course of its rich 34-year history. However, the event has been struggling financialy since it lost title sponsorship from Player's Ltd. in 2000.
"No one in my situation would agree to organize an event such as this while putting the spectre of a half-million dollar deficit under the carpet," Methot, president and general manager of the event, declared in a statement. "A few times, we thought we were going to make it, but things didn't work out," said Methot. "It was like we were preaching in the wilderness."
The Trois-Rivieres Grand Prix was the first major street race circuit in North America when it was introduced in 1967.
