OCTOBER 29, 2003

The end of the road for Trois Rivieres

The circuit that brought Gilles Villeneuve into the limelight looks like it has held its last race. The Grand Prix de Trois Rivieres in Canada has been a major event since the 1967 when it was the first major street race in North America. In the early 1970s Formula Atlantic first visited and in 1976 Villeneuve won the event, beating visiting Formula 1 drivers James Hunt, Alan Jones and Vittorio Brambilla. His performance was so impressive that Hunt told McLaren boss Teddy Mayer to sign up the youngster and Villeneuve made his F1 debut with McLaren in 1977 although when the team failed to take up his option he was signed by Ferrari for 1978.

The event has been cancelled because of lack of funding particularly as a result of the loss of sponsor Players.

The race featured CanAm and TransAm in the seventies and eighties and also ran races for IMSA and ALMS sports cars.

The race promoter says that the event is not viable without more sponsorship.