The same crowd of motorsport enthusiasts that descended on the St-Aubin farm in Otter Lake in June returned to the Pontiac region over the weekend, this time in Litchfield, for another three days of races on e-bikes, dirt bikes and quads.
The event was once again put on by the Fédération des Motocyclistes de Sentiers du Québec (FMSQ), and was the seventh of nine events it is organizing this year in its Cross-Country National Championship series.
Since its weekend in Otter Lake, the organization hosted an event in New Brunswick, and then returned to another property in the Pontiac.
The event’s hosts were the Corriveau family, who welcomed several thousand people to their land just north of Highway 148 and spent all weekend flipping burgers and mixing gravy to feed them.
Land owner Champ Corriveau said he first heard from the FMSQ in October of last year, when the organization asked whether he would be interested in hosting one of its race weekends.
“My first reaction was ‘hell yeah’,” he said. “It’s not my world. I’m more of a ball player, and hockey, cattle and ranching, but you have to expand your vision of what possibilities are out there.”
Races began Friday and wrapped up with some of eastern Canada’s fastest motocross athletes facing off against each other on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s our first time in Litchfield, we’re hoping to come back,” said Isa More, the FMSQ’s communications and marketing coordinator. “We were very welcomed by the Corriveau family. I think the people in the Pontiac are very down to earth, very welcoming, and we see that you’re happy that a big event is happening in the region.”
She said the events, which draw on average 850 riders as well as a couple of their family members, have been growing in size, and the organization has had to look for new host sites with more parking space.
“It happens that this year we had two or three new [locations],” More said, noting a new location brings a welcome change for the riders, who often return year after year. “Most years the courses are the same, so it brings a challenge to do the new courses.”
She said that ultimately the organization is looking to find new permanent homes for its annual races, to reduce logistics the next year.
“Of course if we have a great connection and a great experience, we want to come back.”
For his part, Corriveau said he was thrilled with how the weekend had gone.
“I could never have imagined, when I had cows here, or cutting hay, anything like this. It just boggles my mind,” he said.
“We have the Shawville Fair, which is enormous, and if we can keep adding stuff into our area, it’s going to bring more people. With more people come more visions and more possibilities to create employment, and on and on and on.”
