Polaris Ultimate Quad Terrain Series Sandbox Arena New Richmond, WI July 20, 2008 Photos By: Alex Wishard

Arctic Cat's Jesse West adds the Ultimate Quad Terrain Series to his list of Wins

The indoor track was set up with plenty of obstacles, including a huge whoop section off the start, a 2-3 foot deep mud hole, and plenty of interesting log obstacles. Some of the logs were even used up the faces of tabletop jumps, making for interesting launch conditions. “It was a beautiful track; probably one of the best indoor tracks I have seen for this type of event,” said Polaris/Rath Racing’s Frank Batista who was participating in his first ever QTC type of race. “It was a nice facility and a really diverse track. They did a great job,” added Arctic Cat’s Jesse West.

There were many factory riders in attendance despite the lack of publicity for their first event. The rider roster included, Arctic Cat’s Jesse and Josh West, Polaris’s Daryl Rath and Frank Batista, and Can-Am factory racers Chris Bithell and Bryan Buckhanan to name a few.

Can-Am's Bryan Buckhanan & Chris Bithell both competed in the race

The race format was identical to past WPSA Quad Terrain Challenge races with two heat races and a 14 lap main event. In the Pro Utility main event, it was Can-Am/Warnert Racing’s Chris Bithell who grabbed the holeshot followed closely by Bryan Buckhanan, Josh West, Jesse West and Kyle Fiebelkorn. Shortly into the first lap, Josh West saw an opportunity to get around Buckhanan and made his move into second place. Jesse West had no intensions of staying put in 4th place and began his charge for the front. By lap three, Jesse had made his way to the number one position and began putting space between him and the rest of the pack. While Jesse was comfortably gaining ground, Josh West, Chris Bithell and Bryan Buckhanan were in a heated battle for 2nd place, but Bithell ran into a bit of trouble on one of the log-lipped tabletops and ended up being ejected from his quad which allowed Josh West, Fiebelkorn and Buckhannon to slip by.

Bithell was not the only one to encounter problems during the race. Polaris’s Daryl Rath and Frank Batista also had their fair share of issues. Rath, who had looked good in the heat races, got off to a slow start and was trailing towards the back of the pack “I had some electrical issues and ended up falling back,” said Daryl Rath. Batista, who had taken a couple of hard hits in the heat races was riding with an injured wrist, but that was not the only problem he faced in the main event. “Going through the mud holes we started taking on some water and that really had an impact on how the quad ran,” said Frank.

Arctic Cat's Jesse West blasting through the Mud & Water to victory

Even though Daryl Rath encountered issues during the race, he still had nothing but good things to say about the event. “The people at the track and the whole presentation were awesome. I really had a lot of fun out here,” he concluded.

The next round of the three race series was scheduled for August 22nd-23rd, but as of July 27th, it was announced the Polaris Ultimate Quad Terrain Series has been canceled after only the first round, and no details regarding its cancellation have been released.