Saint Croix Falls, WI (6/25/2018) – Bikeman Performance welcomed Zach Martin to the team for the 2018 season. Bikeman will sponsor Martin’s Yamaha YXZ 1000R in the Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League.

Bikeman Performance's Zach Martin

Martin worked with Bikeman last year in the TORC Series with the team providing trackside support and tuning. This year, Martin will be a fully sponsored driver.

“We’re excited,” said Martin. “We’ve worked with Jimmy Krantz over the years. We both have a similar mindset and we’re both competitive so we joined forces to see what we can do this season.”

Martin was running a brand new Yamaha at the season opener at Crandon International Raceway. Weather didn’t cooperate during the event and rain canceled qualifying and practice. Saturday’s races turned into a mud fest. After starting 32nd in the 33-car field, Martin made it up to fifth before he was roosted and finished ninth.

“We got all the way up to fifth on the last lap,” said Martin. “I was running with my visor up and I got blasted trying to make a pass and went completely blind with mud in my eyes. By the time we got back on track we finished ninth.”

On Sunday, Martin started on the front row, but setup issues kept him out of the top five. Despite those problems, he finished eighth.

“We struggled with the setup a little bit and had some power steering issues, so we finished OK, considering,” said Martin. “We know what we need to do and we’ll be ready by the next race.”

Martin will bring his Bikeman Performance Yamaha out and will be aiming square at the podium during the next Lucas Oil Midwest Short Course League event at ERX Motor Park in Elk River, MN. That race is scheduled for July 13-14.