Wanted!This could be you!-though it would be tough to match Adam Campell's fashion taste and style. The word on the street has Polaris pasting up "Wanted" posters for an Outlaw or, rather, someone to ride its Outlaw ATV this year in the AMA Pro class. With hired gun Matt Smiley leaving for red pastures, it's definitely an opportunity for anyone willing to field the IRS sport in the GNCC series. Any takers?
It's Team MSR/ProTaper/Suzuki/Yoshimura NowIt's no secret that the top two World PowerSports Association (WPSA) ATV motocrossers, Doug Gust and Dustin Wimmer, will be riding for Team Suzuki/Yoshimura in 2007. However, the team had another bit of news to debut, and thus invited the ATV media to its Chino, California, base to officially proclaim it's joining forces with Tucker Rocky and gaining two new sponsors-MSR and ProTaper. Now the new collective force of Team MSR/ProTaper/Suzuki/Yoshimura is set to defend its WPSA title. Besides returning WPSA champion Gust and runner-up Wimmer, the team will consist of Pat Alexander as team manager and Jeremiah Jones as team coordinator.
All of the factions, from Rod Lopusnak, Operations Manager at American Suzuki ATV Division, to Steve Johnson, COO of Tucker Rocky, expressed their enthusiasm to bring their racing experience into the ATV arena. Brant Russell of Yoshimura expanded this sentiment, "Yoshimura is proud to have ProTaper and MSR on board as program partners in this ATV racing effort."
Expect the Double Ds of Team MSR/ProTaper/Suzuki/Yoshimura to provide the WPSA crowds the same level of excitement as last year as they hit the tracks this season.
Tim Farr to Go Orange?It won't be long until the rumored KTM 450 sport quad is tearing up tracks and trails around the country. If our sources are accurate, don't be surprised to see MX star Tim Farr sporting orange and black this year instead of riding red. As if that's not exciting enough, the Austrian company looks to be hiring top talent for its first ATV MX venture.
Money TalksIt's not just my favorite AC/DC song, it's also what Honda racers will be saying this year at almost 700 sanctioned events across the country. The Honda Rider's Club of America is posting $10 million in racing contingency awards for 2007. Of special note, if the ATV champ of the GNCC series (XC1 Pro class) rides a Honda, that rider will win a $25,000 bonus.
I SpyIs Kawasaki, inventor of the Mule, developing a side-by-side machine to compete with the Yamaha Rhino, Arctic Cat Prowler and Polaris RZR? At our favorite riding area our eagle-eyed editor spotted what could have been a prototype machine that was hastily covered up when the Kawasaki guys noticed us lingering to look. If such a machine exists, expect to read about it in a future issue of ATV Rider.