Team Rockstar Energy Polaris Racing’s Iain Hayden strengthened his bid to repeat as CSRA Pro Open Snowcross champ with the overall win this past weekend at Louiseville, QC, on the strength of 1-2 results.
While the first three rounds of the CSRA Nationals title chase took place in more or less snow-free settings except for imported or man-made snow on the track, Louiseville had plenty of the white stuff all around and bone chilling temperatures of -11°C.
The Louiseville National, a combined series event with a throng of riders congregating from three different organizations – CSRA, SCM and Rock Maple – made for a chock-full weekend of racing.
More than 28 pros vied for starting positions in the finals, and they had only one heat per class per day to do it in, ensuring rock ’em sock ’em battles each time out to make the cut.
“It made for a long day cold day with practice at 8:00 AM, heat races at 11:00 and the final at 4:00 in the afternoon,” said team owner Andre Laurin. “But with all the talent from the three different race series going head-to-head the competition was extra special. Everybody wanted to win.”
On Saturday, Hayden made it a perfect 1-1 day taking no prisoners on his potent Polaris IQ 600 sled. He trashed the field in both his qualifier and the final with decisive wins over the rest of the top dogs from the CSRA, SCM and Rock Maple organizations.
Hayden’s teammate, Lee Butler, was not in contention for a top-3 finish but he still recorded a top-5 day by garnering a fifth place in his heat and a respectable fourth in the final.
On Sunday, Hayden looked sure to perform a rerun of the previous day’s races, starting off by blitzing his way to a win in his heat race.
But with the honour of three sanctioning bodies at stake, the final on Sunday proved to be an all-out affair with nobody giving an inch. Hayden got into a heated battle with Quebec star David Allard for the win, eventually settling for second place at the finish line.
Butler, again a bit tentative, scored top-5 as he had on Saturday. However, this time he took fourth in his qualifier and fifth in the final.
After all the math was done, Hayden took the CSRA overall for the weekend with Butler slotting in behind him for second overall.
“Iain and Lee rode well, holding their own and doing what they had to, to score valuable points towards the CSRA Championship. Everybody on the team did a great job and as usual the product spoke for itself,” Laurin said.
Team Rockstar Energy Polaris Racing’s Pro Lite driver, JB Dennis, rode a handicapped weekend due to the knee injury he sustained at Georgian Downs in Barrie, ON the previous weekend. He campaigned the Pro Lite Open class only, picking up some points in his qualifier and final.
