The results from the 22nd annual Vintage World Snowmobile Championship race that were temporarily frozen following a protest by the second place finishing Curtis Pederson and his team are now final following Pederson withdrawing his protest Monday afternoon.

According to World Championship Snowmobile Derby (WCDC) race director Craig Marchbank, that makes the results of the 22nd annual event final and crowns Sabrina Blanchet as the official champion.

The formal protest was filed following the race in Eagle River Sunday afternoon alleging Blanchet’s snowmobile did not comply with division rules as written in the International Snowmobile Racing (ISR) rulebook.

A visually upset Pederson could be seen and heard expressing his frustration as he and his crew got rather animated in conversations with Marchbank, in front of a large group of spectators following Peterson’s post race interview where he stated he was the “first leaf-spring sled across the line”.

Marchbank, after diffusing the situation, said Pederson by rule, has the ability to protest the result which he and his team did late Sunday.

“If another racer thinks someone is illegal they can do a formal protest,” said Marchbank. “He was obviously very upset, but we did exactly by rule, what we were supposed to do and will now follow the process.”

The issue regarding Blanchet’s snowmobile has to do with the way her front skis measure in total width, as well as how the leaf spring attaches and functions in respect to the amount of “give”it has.

The machine was built by Gifford Howard who took to social media following the race defending both himself and his driver, Blanchet.

“The sled was the culmination of two years of designing and fabrication of the ultimate super-mod sled built to the letter of the ISR rules,” he said. “The sled was built after my inspection and measuring the original sled that was displayed at the Quebec vintage sled show. The engine complies with ISR rules. The ski suspension complies with ISR rules in that it has a functioning leaf spring with at least two inches of travel.

“I sent drawings to ISR officials for approval and went by their recommendations. Our sled passed inspection with flying colors.”

Marchbank said, as is the case with any division, his race team at WCDC takes care of pre-race safety inspections, but is not responsible for making sure every inch of the snowmobile comes in line with ISR specifications.

The teams were going to have to wait through deliberations which were set to take place Wednesday between all ISR affiliates across the United States and Canada

Marchbank as race director is one of the affiliates as is Bob Richardson, who is the competition director for the USSA ProStar circuit.

“Everyone collects all the information, we all address the rulebook and go from there,” said Marchbank. “It’s a democratic type vote and all affiliates have a vote.”

Following deliberations and the vote, the committee would have voted to either uphold the finish of the race, or could have disqualified Blanchet which would then made Pederson the 2023 Vintage World Champion.