Polaris New Zealand Racing driver Ben Thomasen has made history for UTV racing in New Zealand’s recent Gwavas 200 Enduro being round 2 of the NZ Off Road Racing Association Championships.

The Polaris RZR XP 900 with Ben at the helm raced against high horsepower trophy trucks and dune buggy type vehicles some with up to 700 horsepower V8 or turbo engines and with costs in excess of $250,000 to take out all of the significant first place awards as follows:

• 1st in class on the day
  
• 1st overall for the day
  
• 1st in class for the North Island Series
  
• 1st outright for the North Island Series
  
• 1st in overall points

"The muddy conditions at the Gwavas 200 were perfectly suited to the RZR, it was an awesome weekend for Polaris Racing. The highlight for me was that not only is the RZR a very economical and enjoyable way of Racing but the 900cc 88hp engine in the Polaris RZR provided plenty of power to not only beat the expensive and high horsepower vehicles we race against, but we lapped them too!" Ben Thomasen said.

Polaris Racing is placed first outright out of 7 vehicle classes for the North Island Series taking maximum points into the national championship finals in October.
About Ben Thomasen

Ben raced motocross for 15 years, left with significant injuries Ben looked into other forms of motorsport and was left using the catch phrase "with age get a cage!" He purchased a Subaru WRX which he now races in rally events around New Zealand and as of early 2013 started racing in a Polaris RZR XP 900. Ben loves driving the agile, fast and cheap to run Polaris RZR and looks forward to helping grow UTV racing in New Zealand and getting more SxS (side by side) owners involved in New Zealand off Road Motorsport.

About Polaris
Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with annual sales exceeding $3 billion. Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets innovative, high quality off-road vehicles (ORVs), including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER ® side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and on-road electric/hybrid powered vehicles.

Polaris is among the global sales leaders for both snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and has established a presence in the heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycle market with the Victory and Indian motorcycle brands. Additionally, Polaris continues to invest in the global on-road small electric/hybrid vehicle industry with Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) and Goupil Industrie SA, and internally developed vehicles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships.

Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PII", and the Company is included in the S&P Mid-Cap 400 stock price index.

For more information or to book a test ride with your local dealer, please visit www.polaris.co.nz

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