Polaris
Ultimate Quad Terrain Series
Sandbox Arena
New Richmond, WI
July 20, 2008
Photos By: Alex Wishard
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Polaris Ultimate
Quad Terrain Series Race Report
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Arctic Cat's
Jesse West adds the Ultimate Quad Terrain
Series to his list of Wins
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New Richmond, WI - Sandbox Arena
in Wisconsin hosted its first ever Polaris Ultimate
Quad Terrain event where racing brothers, Jesse
and Josh West, put Arctic Cat in the top two positions
on the podium.
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.
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Can-Am's
Bryan Buckhanan & Chris Bithell both
competed in the race
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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.
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Arctic Cat's
Jesse West blasting through the Mud &
Water to victory
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As racers began to cross the finish line, it
was Arctic Cat’s Jesse west in the lead
followed by his brother Josh in second and Kyle
Fiebelkorn claimed the last spot on the podium.
Bryan Buckhannon ended his day in 4th place and
Chris Bithell rounded out the top five despite
his earlier meeting with the dirt.
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.
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