Serge Gregoire

Quebec’s Gregoire Family

By Lawrence Hacking for 2018 MX and Off Road Magazine

The Gregoire family name has been a fixture in Quebec motorsports since 1967 when Roland Gregoire became a Yamaha snowmobile dealer. His family grew quickly, with four boys and a burgeoning dealership his sons naturally gravitated towards racing. Eldest son Daniel set himself and his brothers on a path of racing success that leaves a legacy for the Gregoire family name and business. Sylvain, the second in line, started racing in 1977 and his two younger brothers Serge and Gaby grew up at the racetracks in rural Quebec.

Serge started racing in the Junior class in 1978 and started winning his class from the onset. A group of Quebec racers including Mario Paquette, Miguel and Mario Duhamel and Pierre Couture made a group decision to hit a national championship race in Ontario later in the 1978 season and a young Serge went along for the ride.

Serge came home with a fourth place in the 125 cc Junior class and the promising results set him on a career path that saw him rise to compete nationally at the highest level.

“That is an era where we would all travel to the nationals together and seeing everyone, all my friends, was really a magical time for me, ” Serge explained in a recent telephone conversation from his desk at Gregoire Sport in Joliette, Quebec. He continued, “In the early days as a junior, I raced on Saturday and tried my hand at the Senior class on Sundays, sometimes I had good results in the Senior class as well so I moved up to Expert in 1979. I think I moved up too soon, I struggled in the Expert class, sometimes finishing in the top 15 was difficult. “

Serge was still young  (only 17 years old) when he took on the Canadian National Championships in the Expert class. “The 1981 125 cc Canadian Expert class champion Terry Hoffoss came east and stayed at our place. We trained and rode together. I had support through our dealership from my dad, we went to the 1981 motocross Nationals and I finished 2nd overall in the 125 class. I was winning in Quebec at the time so I was really encouraged and Team Yamaha manager Jim Small took notice. He gave me a call at the end of the season, I was on the factory supported team for 1982, ” said Serge.

Serge and Gaby only raced Yamahas throughout their entire racing career, Gaby started racing a YZ80 in 1979 and followed in his brothers’ footsteps.

The Gregoire brothers spent the winter seasons racing the Florida series and practising for three months during 1982, ’83 and ’84. “We Rode and trained in the Florida sand and went to as many races as we could. We would do some of the US supercross races as well. There were lots of Canadians in Florida in those days, guys like Nicholson, Hoover, plus the Quebec guys, it was the best times, we had a lot of fun, we were living the dream. I would love to relive those times. It truly was an incredible era for motocross, ” explained Serge.

In Quebec the largest event of the year was the Montreal Supercross, when 62,000 people would pack the Olympic Stadium to watch some the biggest names in motocross compete for big money. The Montreal Supercross went on for many years and organizer Pierre Corbeil built it into one of the longest running and best-attended supercross races in the world. For Team Yamaha, Gregoire Sport and Serge, the Montreal Supercross was what they waited for the entire season. Gregoire Sport sold more tickets to the event than any other outlet. Team Yamaha and the Gregoires had a massive following of fans.

Serge fondly recounts his most memorable moment in his racing career. “In 1983 we sold at least 2,000 tickets to the Montreal Supercross. The final was incredible, I didn’t get a great start, it felt like the entire stadium was behind me, 62,000 people were cheering me on. I came from behind to finish 4th. “It was like I won! To this day I have customers come into the shop 35 years later to tell the story again about the ’83 Montreal Supercross. “

Serge’s best supercross result came in Vancouver in 1983 where he finished in 2nd place.

Both Serge and Gaby had good results during the early in 1980s, but all good things come to an end and during the week prior to the 1985 Montreal Supercross Serge had an awkward fall training for the event and cracked a vertebra in his neck. It was a difficult time and disappointing for Serge. Ultimately he hung up his helmet and began working full time in the family business.

Loyal to the Yamaha brand, in those days Serge and Gaby always rode Yamahas and their presence at the races helped the shop grow. When Serge retired from racing he put the same focus into Gregoire Sport as he did into his racing. Now a multi-line dealership the shop sells motorcycles, snowmobiles and marine products.

“The business is quite good, we sell products for every season, we sell snowmobiles but sometimes the conditions are not so good so the winter can be slow but we do well with boats, ATVs, motorcycles and side-by-sides, ” he explained.

“I look back at our racing careers, all my old friends were part of that time. Thinking back gives me some of the best memories I have.”

“The good old days were the best times for me. I look at what we had and feel grateful to be able to be a part of such an exciting period in Canadian motocross. ”

MXOR

• 1978 :
• Start racing 
• at the first season, won the 125cc Junior Quebec Championship (race on Saturdays) and the 125cc Senior Champtionship (race on Sundays)
• 1979 : 
• Winner of the 125cc Senior Quebec Falls Cup
• Participate at the Super Motocross of Montreal
• 1980 :
• Finish 8th at the Toronto Supercross
• Ride Super Motocross of Montreal
• Finish 2^nd 250 Support Class at MX Grand-Prix of Canada (Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon) 
• 1981 :
• Finish 2^nd Canadian National Championship 125cc
• Won 125cc Expert Quebec Championship
• 2^nd 250cc Expert Quebec Championship
• Won Quebec Spring Series on both 125 and 250cc 
• 1982 :
• Sign with Yamaha Motor Canada MX racing team
• Finish 3rd Canadian National Championship 250cc
• Finish 10th Canadian Supercross Championship
• 14th Supercross of Toronto
• 22nd Super Motocross of Montreal
• 1st on 250cc Support Class at MX Grand-Prix of Canada and 2^nd on 125cc Support Class 
• 1983 :
• Race on Yamaha MX racing team – Had the chance to race with a factory bike OW57
• 3rd in Canadian Supercross Championship
• 3rd in Canadian National Championship 125cc
• 3rd in Canadian National Championship 250cc – win first round at Austin, Manitoba
• Won a quaterfinal at Daytona Supercross
• 2^nd at Vancouver Supercross behind American rider, Phil Larsen
• 4th at Super Motocross of Montreal in front of more than 63 000 fans – Best Quebecer performance since the beginning of the Montreal Supercross (behind Ross Pederson, Jim Gibson & Kris Bigelow)
• 9th at Toronto Supeprcross – There was a lot a very talented US riders at these events. Only few canadians qualified at this period
• 1st in Riviere-du-Loup Arenacross in both 125 and 250cc. 
• 10th at MX Grand-Prix of Canada in 250cc, on the international class – practice at my private track with Dany Laporte, MX world champion
• Raced selected US Supercross : Daytona, Atlanta, Houston and Pontiac
• Won most of the Quebec local races 
• 1984 :
• Still on contract with Yamaha MX racing team
• Hurt most of the MX season
• While racing the Winter AMA series in Florida, hurt my knee on February and need surgery.
• 17th at Vancouver Supercross
• In July, at Unadilla USA MX GP, broke my collarbone during practice
• In November, winner of the International Cuba Cup in both 125 and 250cc 
• 1985 :
• Doug Hoover and me was the only Team Yamaha MX riders
• Training in Florida with Jeff Surwall during all winter
• Winner of the Riviere-du-Loup Arenacross in 125cc in front of Ross Pederson – an epic battle just a week before Montreal Supercross
• Raced Spring motocross Series in Ontario – Beat Doug Hoover and Glen Nicholson 
• I was in excellent shape and ready for the best results of my carreer
• During practicing the Week before the Super Motocross of Montreal, I badly hurt my neck (fracturing C1 – C2). Very lucky to still be alive and walk!!
• Was a good prospect to win Montreal Supercross
• Three months with an Halo cervical brace held in place by four screews in my skull – it takes a year for recovery 
• 1986 :
• During spring, train for Montreal Supercross  wich was held in may
• Qualify for the main event, but had to stop due to mechanical issue
• After this race, decided to retire from professionnal MX racing
• Started to work at my family business, Gregoire Sport