Intense racing throughout the field proved to be the highlight of the Pro Open main this past weekend at the Bad River Lodge and Casino Amsoil® Snocross National in Ironwood, MI. The challenging, half-mile motocross style track, which consisted of multiple elevation changes and two hair raising up-and-down hill runs, turned out to be a grueling test for man and machine alike.
Pro Open... For Yamaha Factory Snocross, Round 2 of the AMSOIL® Championship Snocross Season saw Steve Taylor pick up 23 valuable championship points in the process. Unfortunately, his teammate Iain Hayden was not on the starting line for the main due to an injury he sustained in his qualifier heat.
“This weekend was a huge step in the right direction for us. We have been making calibration changes to the 2009 FX Nytro® race sled, and the results have been good” said team manager Andre Laurin. “We were able to put to practice what we learned at Round 1 and see how well the adjustments we made worked. That gave us the momentum to be in a very positive frame of mind and it showed on the track. It’s unfortunate that Iain got hurt in his qualifier but Steve rode hard in his heats and looked strong in the final.”
In the first heat race, Taylor grabbed an excellent start putting his potent FX Nytro into turn one in fourth place. Unfortunately, he got tied up in traffic and hit from behind which at once eliminated his chances for a qualifying position. By the time he got into the fray again, he was too far back to connect with the front runners
Hayden also garnered a favorable start in his heat race running in third spot after one lap. An aggressive riding Hayden, on the gas to take over second place going up one of the track’s hills, hit a massive bump and was pitched off his race sled. He sustained a dislocated shoulder in the process, effectively ending his weekend right then and there.
“I was really pleased with the handling and power of our FX Nytros this weekend, especially with the new adjustments that were made by the technical crew,” said Hayden. “There was so much power to be had when I was going up that hill I was just flying and didn’t see that bump. It took everything in me to try to hang onto the sled but there was just no way. Luckily I came out of it with only a dislocated shoulder.”
In the LCQ, Taylor put on a demonstration of his sled handling talents to record a fourth place finish. This got him 14th gate pick, which put him in a second row starting position for the main. Taking full advantage of his FX Nytro’s power, he effectively passed half the field in the long uphill section to enter the first turn in eighth place. He then battled his way to fifth before the halfway mark. Despite his best efforts he was unable to hold onto that slot, however, and had to settle for eighth at the finish line.
“I was right there with the pack the whole time and it was nice to know I could run at speed with those guys,” said Taylor. “We learned some valuable lessons in Duluth and made a few changes to the sled’s setup this weekend and it paid off.”
Yamaha Factory Team would like to thank the following sponsors for their valuable support: Yamalube®, FXR®, Fox® Shocks, Camoplast®, GYTR®, Fly Racing® and Stud Boy®.
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Pro Open: Round 2 |
| 1 |
Tucker Hibbert |
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| 2 |
TJ Gulla |
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| 3 |
Levi LaVallee |
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| 4 |
Garth Kaufman |
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| 5 |
Ross Martin |
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| 6 |
Brett Turcotte |
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| 7 |
Ryan Simons |
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| 8 |
Steven Taylor - YAM |
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| 9 |
Shaun Crapo |
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| 10 |
Matt Judnick |
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Point Standings |
| 1 |
Tucker Hibbert |
74 |
| 2 |
Ross Martin |
59 |
| 3 |
TJ Gulla |
57 |
| 4 |
Ryan Simons |
56 |
| 5 |
Levi LaVallee |
52 |
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