Medina, Minn., (5/5/2009) - It was another double header weekend for the Polaris/Rath/Duro Team and it proved to be successful for both teams. The weather made it perfectly clear the team was in two different locations, the MX team enjoyed sun with some mild temperatures while the GNCC team had to fight Mother Nature's worst elements, rain and lots of mud!
The AMA ATV "Pro Am" and "Pro AM Unlimited" classes are quickly becoming a popular show of the day with rider entries nearing forty leaving full gates of riders not even qualifying for the main event. Landon Hurst, #179, competes in both "Pro-AM" classes aboard Polaris Outlaw MXR. When asked about the weekend Hurst stated, "I came here this weekend with goals for myself, my team and my sponsors. I wanted to get out of the gate clean and push toward the front." He added, "I was able to accomplish those goals because my Outlaw is performing better than ever and the results prove that. I am planning to work extremely hard over the next few weeks as I prepare for Round 6, which will be at the Steel City MX, on May 23."
Hurst had qualified for the Pro Am Unlimited class by taking a sixth place finish in his heat. That secured his place in the main event along with a full gate of twenty. This class has some serious talent that is destined to be the future Pro class of the sport. As the gate dropped Hurst went to work and raced to a strong eight place finish giving him a seventh place finish overall for the day. Hurst continued his to put his Polaris Outlaw to the test on Sunday by, once again, making his mark in the top ten with a ninth place overall finish.
Anderson takes over Third place in "Utility 4X4 Limited" Class Points- While Rath nets another Third place class finish in the "Utility 4X4 Open" Class.
Just a few states away watching the rain drown an already saturated GNCC cross country track, the GNCC team prepared for the worst mud race of the season. Rath, Batista and Anderson prepared their Sportsman 850XPs with Power Steering for some serious mud and water. The bikes were prepped by planning for the worst conditions they could think of. After a hard charge by Rath, who was running in Second and was slowed down by a flat tire, Rath would settle in for a third place finish and a 15th place overall in the Morning Class. Anderson fought the track all day and was able to finish in Fifth place allowing him to move up into the Third place position in overall class points for the season. Rath said, "I talked with the team and we decided to focus on riding the track as fast as we could in the conditions, we knew how important it is just to survive and finish in a mud race."
Batista, fresh off of success last round, was sidelined by a mechanical not allowing him to finish the race. Although Batista was discouraged by the day's events, he still sits in the top five of his class and is already focusing on Round 7. Batista added, "I knew I had my work cut out for me after a bad start and was hoping after fighting my way up to the Third position I would be able to finish there."
Polaris/Rath/Duro Team Partners and valuable sponsors- Polaris Industries - Rath Racing - Duro Tire - Fox Shox -Fly Racing- FMF Exhausts -DWT Douglas Wheel Technologies- B&B Racing Engines -Wiseco - RPM- Fly Racing - S&S Cycle Inc. -Hinson Clutch Components - Xstream Composites- Precision Racing Products - Pure Polaris Lubricants & Fuels - WPS - QuadTech -- Powermadd - Tireballs - Faast Co. - Scott Goggles - PEP -- K&N Filters - Moto X Nutrition- Team Industries -Rebel Gears -DP Brakes - MedZone Products
About Polaris
With annual 2008 sales of $1.9 Billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets off road vehicles (ORVs) including: all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the Polaris RANGER, snowmobiles, and Victory motorcycles for recreational and utility use. Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PII," and the Company is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index. Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories are available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.