The Polaris Racing Team has begun the 2014 Australian Rally
Championship (ARC) SXS (Side by Side) Challenge season with a win
at the Western Australian round being the Quit Forest Rally.
The Polaris Racing Team with driver four time Asia-Pacific Rally
Champion, Cody Crocker and Co-Driver Greg Foletta took the teams
new RZR XP 1000 through 200km of forest stages faultlessly near the
town of Nannup WA to win 15 out of 15 stages over Saturday and
Sunday.
"The new RZR didn't put a foot wrong all weekend, it's just
awesome. The past two years we have run a RZR XP 900 which was very
dependable and great fun. The best thing about the new RZR XP 1000
is that it does everything the 900 did just that bit better, it is
wider, it is longer and it is faster!" said Cody Crocker.
"By comparison on the last stage on Saturday which is only 800m
long the new Polaris RZR XP 1000 performed a stage time of 44.8
seconds vs last year on the exact same stage our RZR XP 900 got a
time of 47.5 seconds, 3 seconds over such a small distance is quite
substantial and the performance of the new RZR was proved this
weekend" continued Crocker.
"We are always a bit nervous running a new machine for the first
time in a Rally but after this weekend's performance the RZR XP
1000 has proved itself to be just as reliable as last year's RZR XP
900 and we are looking forward to the rest of the season" said Greg
Foletta.
On Saturday's Heat 1 Polaris placed first in 7 out of 7 stages
with an overall time of 50:17.7, Michael Guest in his Can-Am placed
second with 52:49.0 (+2:31.3) and Nathan Chivers in his Can-Am
placed third with 53:17.9 (+3:00.2)
On Sunday's Heat 2 Polaris placed first in 8 out of 8 stages with
an overall time of 1:10:29.8, Michael Guest in his Can-Am placed
second with 1:13:31.9 (+3:02.1) and Nathan Chivers in his Can-Am
placed third with 1:24:12.9 (+13:43.1)
"Unfortunately Michael Guest broke a drive shaft on Saturday and
we caught up to him and spent a bit of time in his dust! It is
great fun to race against the Can-Am guys; we have a very close
competition and it is always great to catch up with their team at
each Rally. I am looking forward to our next battle in South
Australia in August" said Cody Crocker.
It was also great to see local WA Polaris RZR owners Alan Grier
and Dylan Minear enter the Rally as "invitational." Their RZR's
didn't meet ARC specifications but they did have the required
safety equipment and were therefore allowed to run and enjoy the
stages in the event.
The ARC SXS Challenge is designed to avoid "cheque book" racing,
anyone can enter the SXS class of the ARC with a Polaris RZR or a
Can-Am Maverick and all they need to add is the required CAMS
safety cage and equipment. This puts everyone on a level playing
field and makes motorsport very accessible with low costs involved
compared to that of a properly set up Rally Car. Anyone interested
in Racing in the ARC in a SXS is encouraged to contact their local
Polaris or Can-Am dealer.
The ARC SXS Challenge will continue in August at the Scouts
Rally, South Australia.
About Polaris Industries
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.polarisindustries.com.au
Media Contact
Robert Rosengarten
robert.rosengarten@polaris.com