Ramp Day from Kyle Armbrust on Vimeo.
ECS Set For Season Finale This Weekend
CHESHIRE, Conn. (March 15, 2013) – After months of intense competition, constant travel and hard work, the end is now in sight.
Snowmobile race teams from around the northeast are gearing up for a dramatic conclusion to the 2013 season, as East Coast Snocross (ECS) prepares for its season finale on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, at the beautiful Titus Mountain Family Ski Center in Malone, New York.
This year’s season finale will feature a different format, with racing under the lights Friday night adding a new level of excitement. Spectator gates will open at 3 p.m. Friday, with racing getting under way at 4 p.m. with amateur qualifying rounds. Pro and Pro Lite riders will hit the track by 6 p. m. and contest their finals during the evening.
Gates will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday with amateur qualifying rounds set to begin at 10:30. The finals will begin shortly after lunch and conclude by 3:30 p.m. Admission is $10 per day for adults; $8 for students, children age 7 and under admitted free with a paying adult. Pit passes valid through the weekend will be available for an extra $5.
Leading the charge into Malone is Pro points leader Corin Todd. The young athlete from Otego, NY, maintains a slim 12-point lead over second-generation Vermont rider Lincoln Lemeiux with just two Pro Open finals remaining. Defending champion Danny Poirier sits 43 markers behind Todd in third after another solid season.
The 2013 Pro Lite title is already locked up for Mike Pilotte, while Montana Jess and Jesse James Bonaduce will battle down to the wire for second. Pilotte holds an insurmountable 104-point lead over Jess, yet Bonaduce sits just four points back in third and has plenty of momentum on his side. Despite Pilotte’s dominance (10 wins in 16 starts), this was a very exciting season in the Pro Lite class.
Vermont native Hunter Patenaude leads the charge in Sport class action at Malone. Patenaude is enjoying a career-best season and leads both Saturday and Sunday points in Super Stock. His advantage is just 21 points over veteran Bruce Gaspardi Jr. in Saturday’s tally, while he’ll breathe a little easier on Sunday with a comfortable 55-point cushion over Gaspardi. Connecticut native Connor Roscoe has also enjoyed a stellar season in Sport action, yet suffered a broken wrist in Salamanca, New York. Roscoe was leading the point standings in all three Sport classes at the time of his injury.
There will be exciting points battles throughout the balance of classes in Malone, as well. ECS has enjoyed strong competition in its Junior division all season, and we expect more of the same in Malone. Young racers in the 120cc classes will also have a chance to compete one last time in Malone.
Nestled in the northern Adirondack foothills, Titus Mountain is blessed with abundant natural snow and a sheltered, northeast-facing trail network. The mountain features 10 lifts serving 42 trails and glades, two terrain parks, a Learning Center and snow tubing park. The facility stretches across three mountains, with over 200 acres open for skiing and snowboarding.
East Coast Snocross, presented by AMSOIL and Woody’s Traction, is the eastern affiliate of International Series of Champions (ISOC), the national sanctioning body for snocross. ECS strives to maintain a regional circuit intended to keep grass-roots snocross racing healthy in this part of the Snowbelt, while also cultivating new talent for tomorrow’s factory-backed Pro teams.
For more information, go to www.eastcoastsnocross.com.
Team LaVallee’s Jake Scott Wins Pro Lite Championship
Levi LaVallee and Jake Scott. Photo: Wayne Davis
Longville, MN (March 16, 2013) – Jake Scott is the 2012/2013 Pro Lite Champion after a perfect day of racing Friday night of the two-day national at the Lake Geneva Grand Finale, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Coming into the final weekend of racing, Scott was in the points lead by 59 points. With taking first in both rounds of qualifying Friday afternoon and winning the Pro Lite final, Scott was able to clinch the points lead and win the Championship title. Scott will now bump up to the Pro Open class for Saturdays racing.
Team LaVallee Pro Open Rider, Kyle Pallin had an awesome day-one of racing as well. Pallin was able to go straight into the final Friday night with taking 3rd and 2nd in his qualifying rounds. Off of the line in the Pro Open Final, Pallin came out mid-pack and was able to protect his lines during the 10-lap final and finish an excellent 6th place.
“I am super proud of Jake and the team on winning the Pro Lite Championship. It takes a lot of hard work, time and dedication to achieve this goal. It will be fun to see Jake compete in the Pro Class today, it’s a life long dream for him and he deservers to be there. I’m excited to see how today unfolds.” stated LaVallee
RACE RESULTS
Pro Open Round 15 (Pallin) Round 1: 3rd Round 2: 2nd LCQ: — Final: 6th
Pro Open Round 16 (Pallin) Round 1: — Round 2: — LCQ: — Final: —
Pro Lite #1 (Scott) Round 1: 1st Round 2: 1st LCQ: — Final: 1st
Pro Open Round 16 (Scott) Round 1: — Round 2: — LCQ: — Final: —
COMING UP
Nielsen Grand Finale – Lake Geneva, WI March 15-17, 2013
http://www.isocracing.com/mar-15-17-2013-lake-geneva-wi/
LEVI LAVALLEE UPDATE
Levi LaVallee has been in a sling since his February 25th surgery on left lat muscle and will be having a follow up doctors appointment the week after the Lake Geneva Grand Finale. LaVallee hopes to have approval to go without the sling and start physical therapy.
Hibbert Wins Seventh National Snocross Title
Team 68. Photo: Joe Wiegele
March 18, 2013 – Tucker Hibbert captured his seventh national snocross title with an impressive performance in the Pro Open class at the final round of the ISOC tour in Lake Geneva, Wisc. After a rough season last year, Hibbert and team Monster Energy/Arctic Cat came back with a vengeance winning 11 of the 16 final events and never finishing outside the top-five.
Although Hibbert clinched the championship in qualifying Friday, he put together back-to-back fierce rides in the final events that will not be soon forgotten. Grand Geneva Resort featured the longest and most challenging snocross track in ISOC history. The wide, windy course scaled the Grand Geneva ski hill a record three times and boasted a lap time well over one minute.
Friday night, Hibbert swept his qualifying rounds and led nine of ten laps in the final to win his 80th professional national main event by 17 seconds. His competitive drive pushed on Saturday night in what unfolded as one of the most riveting comeback rides in history.
With a seventh place start in Saturday’s 15-rider, ten-lap final, it looked like a runaway race for holeshot winner Ross Martin. Hibbert rode with patience and precision to pick off one rider at a time and by lap five, he moved into third place. With Martin in sight, he charged forward, passing second place Tim Tremblay and crushing Martin’s once nine-second lead. With two to go and the roaring crowd on its feet, Hibbert moved into striking distance of Martin. Hibbert continued to ride with intensity and control, looking for a clean pass but Martin held his line to the final corner to win by only 0.23 of a second.
Hibbert has one event left on his 2012/2013 snocross schedule. Later this week, he will travel to Falun, Sweden for northern Europe’s top action sports event, Clash of Nations. It will mark his second time competing in the snowmobile crazed country with the first being the 2010 FIM Snowcross World Championship. Fans can watch Clash of Nations live online March 28-29 at www.clashofnations.se.
Tucker Hibbert – #68 Monster Energy/Arctic Cat
“This has been an incredible year. Every member of the Monster Energy/Arctic Cat crew gave their all to win this championship. I’m grateful to work with people who are as passionate as I am.
Racing under the lights at Lake Geneva was a cool experience. It felt great to wrap up the championship Friday night but I wanted to win bad on Saturday. I charged hard. Taking second gives me more drive to work harder this summer to come out swinging at Duluth.
I’m really excited about going back to Sweden. I didn’t get to race Clash of Nations last year because of my injury at Lake Geneva. They know how to put on first-class events and build big, challenging tracks in Sweden. It’ll be a great way to finish the season!”
Hentges Racing Closes Season With World Cup Win, Year End Honors
Kody Kamm
LAKE GENEVA, WI (March 18, 2013)-The 2012-2013 ISOC season came to a close this weekend with Hentges Racing finishing out their stat sheet with a streak that gave the factory Polaris team podiums 7 of the 9 series weekends, a RAM World Cup title, and ISOC series honors.
The Grand Geneva Resort & Spa packed in standing-room only fans, friends, and family of the local Wisconsin riders in Lake Geneva, WI. Friday night under the lights delivered holeshot after holeshot for the Hentges Polaris Pirtek sleds, with Kamm and Broberg winning it in each of their perspective heats and Kody taking it in the Final.
After finishing no lower than 3rd in their Round 1 and 2 qualifying heats, Kody and Justin both earned a front-row starting position with a 3rd and 6th position, respectively. Kamm claimed the lead and broke away from the field with the top three in an ensuing intense battle. Broberg also got a good start, moving up to 5th. The 10-lap final ended with Kody taking another podium in 3rd and Justin rounding out the top-5 to make Hentges Racing the highest finishing team.
Saturday’s racing unfortunately did not yield the results to match the performance. Both riders contested a competitive Heat 3 in Round 1 and were squeezed at the peak of the first hill. The #53 and #168 sleds crossed the finish line in the 5-lap qualifier in 4th and 5th.Kody went out in Heat 1 for Round 2, claimed the holeshot and went on to win the heat by more than 5 seconds. Justin went out in the second heat. He got a good start, but was hit hard into Turn 1 by the #24 sled of Paul Bauerly. While #168 didn’t sustain much damage, Broberg’s left knee was not as lucky. The contact was so hard that it bent the 23 year-old’s knee brace, renedering his leg immobile. Justin was forced to pull off the course. Justin powered through the pain with a borrowed brace from his teammate in the LCQ. He ran a conservative heat to move on to the Final.
For the “Showdown at Sunset”, Kamm would start on the front-row from 5th and Broberg started from 13th. Both Polaris riders got solid starts, with Kody moving up to 3rd and Justin gaining a spot to 12th. By Lap 3, the top four riders had broken away from the field and engaged into a heated battle for those top spots. Justin began one of his hardest charges of the season, picking off sleds lap by lap. Both HR riders continued on in the 10-lap main embroiled in their own battles. As the checkers came out, Kamm crossed the line in 4th and Broberg had charged all the way up to 7th.
Kamm leads USA to RAM World Cup victory…
Although the regular season had wrapped, the finale weekend was not yet over as Sunday played host to the inaugural RAM World Cup. The format, pitting the USA against the “World”, consisted of three 5-lap motos. The top scores from each team in each moto were combined. While Kody represented the United States, the team decided to withdraw Justin from the non-points paying event to avoid any further potential damage to his injured knee. The 19 year-old Kamm won 2 out of the 3 motos, allowing Team USA to be the dominant victor on the all-Polaris team.
ISOC season banquet awards top honors for Hentges Racing…
The finale weekend culminated in the ISOC series awards banquet Sunday night at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. Not only did Hentges Racing place both riders in the top-10 in the overall standings with Kody finishing 4th and Justin 9th, but the team garnered additional honors. Kamm earned the prestigious “Rookie of the Year” title for his first-season performance in the Pro Open class. The highlight for the team, however, was being named the “Team of the Year” by the top snowcross racing series. The award, accepted by team owner Nate Hentges to a standing ovation, it truly a reflection of the overall effort put forth every weekend by the Minnesota-based team.
Kody Kamm #53 quote- “I had a great weekend. This is just such an awesome event..the track is so much fun and gnarly, the fans are awesome, I’ve got a lot of fans and family here. It’s pretty fun! I would have liked to close the season out with a win, but we’ve had a lot of podiums this season. Capping of the year off winning the World Cup and then ‘Rookie of the Year’ is pretty awesome too!”
Justin Broberg #169 quote – “I really wanted to get that podium finish this weekend, but if I look at my season overall, I’ve made pretty big gains on my goals. Honestly, I wish we could just keep racing because I feel like this second half of the season is when I really got comfortable on the Polaris and how to get out of it what I need. We were right there consistently getting the top-5′s now and that’s the last step before podiums and wins consistently!”
Nate Hentges, team owner quote – “I’m so proud of each one of my guys on this Hentges Racing team. This was such a transition year for us with two new, young Pro Open riders, so to come away with so many podiums and top-5′s and then being awarded ‘Team of the Year’…I honestly don’t think I can say enough! I think it shows that our fellow competitors think we are a real threat for wins and championships, and with this being the first season with this line-up including a rookie, that’s something we can all be proud of!”
FAST STATS
Friday Heats Final
Kody Kamm 2/2 3
Justin Broberg 2/3 5
Saturday
Kody Kamm 4/1 4
Justin Broberg 5/DNF/3 7
Overall Pos. Pnts.
Kody Kamm 4 494
Justin Broberg 9 419
The Future Of Snowmobile Racing Engines
Snowmobile racing rules are set to change in 2015 when the manufacturers will mandate fuel injection on 600cc race engines. There are many benefits to this including better fuel efficiency, easier tuning, power restriction and better re-sale. This means a Junior racer will likely be able to ride the same sled with the same engine as a Pro or Pro Lite racer since manufacturers will be able to “detune” the engine. Also, instead of a pure racing engine these engines will be closer to a “production” snowmobile engine so used race sleds should be more attractive to non-racing riders when it comes to re-sale. Of course, all this could change at the next ISR meeting, but for now this is the roadmap the rulesmakers have set moving forward. With that, let’s look at what may be powering your 2015 race sled.
We are all familiar with Ski-Doo's E-TEC engine. It's crazy fuel and oil efficiency and sewing machine run quality make it arguably the best consumer two-stroke available. Would it make a good race engine? The E-TEC's heavy injection coils mean the engine would suffer a slight weight penalty, but it's computer-controlled oiling and injection systems say it would be adaptable to whatever role it would face.
Here is a video explaining how the E-TEC system works:
One wild card when these rules were tentatively agreed to was Arctic Cat - they didn't even have a fuel-injected 600cc two-stroke in their lineup. Now they do.
Instead of an "exotic" direct injection system Cat engineers went with a surprisingly simple injection design. Injection is timed to keep raw fuel in the combustion chamber and out of the pipe (raw fuel getting sucked into the pipe is one of the main culprits in "dirty" emissions). When it comes to keeping fuel from getting sucked into the pipe the injection timing window is short, so this slotted piston design was developed to allow for more injection time. Side benefits include better pin oiling. Durability? Cat has multiple engines with over 10,000 miles ride time on them.
Cat's injection system uses a rail and two fuel injectors just like any other standard system. Oil is injected into the case as well as the rail and the pump is electronically controlled so oil is delivered on a curve, much like the E-TEC.
Here’s a video showing how Cat’s new injection system works:
We are all familiar with the Yamaha Nytro Genesis 130FI engine. Massive torque and 130+ horsepower make it a formidable powerplant, one that comes with sophisticated EFI and is tunable via a Dyno Jet controller. The Arctic Cat version and new Viper versions use Arctic Cat's injection computer and that is fully tunable. It's heavy though, about 50lbs more than a standard two-stroke.
The big question is what Polaris will do. They have an injection system now that works, the CleanFire, but is the least sophisticated of the four manufacturers. It is basically a semi-direct injection system.
Polaris passed on the rights to FICHT. Ski-Doo didn't, and they used those rights to build the E-TEC. Polaris currently has the rights to use Orbital Engine Corporation technology. It is a direct injection design that uses an air pump in conjunction with fuel injection to inject air into the cylinders. Orbital designed it mainly for use in multi-fuel applications. Is requires more componentry so it would likely be a heavier system. People in the know have told us the PRO RIDE chassis has space considerations for such a system. Would they race it? Likely not, since it would be virtually untested in race conditions at the time of release. Polaris will likely use their current EFI on the 2015 buggy.
Here’s a little bit of info regarding Orbital engine technology.
