Aboard their FX Nytro RTX snowmobiles, Fuel Med Rx Yamaha drivers Ben Lindbom and Jake Muller scored a pair of top-five finishes in the Semi-Pro Improved class at the USXC Willmar Area Lakes 100 ice race in Willmar, Minn. on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 12. Lindbom’s fourth-place finish in the 50-mile event keeps him atop the points standings in Semi-Pro Improved, and Muller scored a strong fifth right behind.
Conditions were particularly wicked, even for hardy snowmobile racers, as a cold snap and strong winds dropped temperatures to 20 degrees below zero on Saturday. For this reason the race promoters changed the race from a cross-country format to a more localized ice race, and the tight, technical 10-mile course that snaked across Foot Lake barely gave drivers a moment’s rest. In the Semi-Pro Improved race, Lindbom and Muller jumped off the line together and ran competitive times throughout the five-lap time trial. Averaging almost 60 mph in the frigid weather, Lindbom kept ahead of Muller for the nearly 50-minute event, just missing out on a podium position by 5.1 seconds at the flag.
| Semi-Pro Improved |
| 1 |
Travis Faust |
|
| 2 |
Cale Anseeuw |
|
| 3 |
Alex Hetteen |
|
| 4 |
Ben Lindbom - YAM |
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| 5 |
Jacob Muller - YAM |
|
| 6 |
Nathan Moritz |
|
| 7 |
Craig Ritzinger |
|
| 8 |
Cody Breitbach |
|
| 9 |
Dillan Dohrn |
|
| 10 |
Erik Bute |
|
|
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| Standings after Round 3 of 8 |
| 1 |
Ben Lindbom - YAM |
152 |
| 2 |
Travis Faust |
147 |
| 3 |
Cale Anseeuw |
132 |
| 4 |
Jacob Muller - YAM |
107 |
| 5 |
Alex Hetteen |
107 |
| 6 |
Nathan Moritz |
104 |
| 7 |
Quintin Rettler |
94 |
| 8 |
Adam Mach |
90 |
| 9 |
Craig Ritzinger |
90 |
| 10 |
Tyler Johnsrud |
84 |
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Admittedly, part of the fun of snowmobile racing is battling the conditions. Erdman had a lot of riders outsmarted from the get-go by suiting up in his hotel room, and he arrived at the team trailer at the lake ready to go – while others found their trailer door locks frozen solid with ice! He was equally ready to go as the Pro Open race shot off the line, seeing his FX Nytro speedometer tag 100 mph before braking hard to negotiate the many turns. While on this day it would be newcomer Wadena and not Erdman who scored the highest finish for Yamaha in the Pro Open class, the veteran still had emphatic words for his FX Nytro’s performance. “The acceleration is second to none and the consistency is there too,” Erdman said afterwards. “Even in the difficult weather conditions we had this weekend, the Yamaha four-stroke motor runs the same all day long.”
Yamaha’s Eric Josephsen added, “What’s most amazing about our team is that we’re out there running trail sleds that anyone can buy off the showroom floor, competing against guys on specially built two-stroke racing machines. We’re taking the fight to them, that’s for sure.” Now the entire Yamaha Factory Racing team is looking forward to the next event, an exciting and versatile ditch race in Oslo, Minn. on Saturday, Jan. 26.
| Pro Open |
| 1 |
Zach Herfindahl |
|
| 2 |
Ryan Simons |
|
| 3 |
Brian Dick |
|
| 4 |
Chad Lian |
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| 5 |
Jordan Torgerson |
|
| 6 |
Aaron Christensen |
|
| 7 |
Justin Tate |
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| 8 |
Re Wadena - YAM |
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| 9 |
Ryan Greening |
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| 10 |
Jacob Muller - YAM |
|
|
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| Standings after Round 3 of 8 |
| 1 |
Ryan Simons |
160 |
| 2 |
Brian Dick |
155 |
| 3 |
Zach Herfindahl |
147 |
| 4 |
Re Wadena - YAM |
112 |
| 5 |
Wesley Selby |
109 |
| 6 |
Jordan Torgerson |
102 |
| 7 |
Chad Lian |
100 |
| 8 |
Bobby Menne IV |
94 |
| 9 |
Ryan Greening |
92 |
|
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