Press Release –
Polaris snowmobiles not only deliver Terrain Dominating Control, in the hands of high-flying extreme rider Paul Thacker, they deliver world-record flight capability.
On March 26, Thacker piloted a Polaris 600 IQ® on a ramp-to-ramp flight of 301 feet, a new world record for snowmobile distance jumping. He accomplished the feat at the Brainerd (MN) International Raceway. The record-breaking jump was arranged by Monster Energy and Slednecks, who, like Polaris, are among Thacker’s sponsors.
Thacker and the Monster crew endured two days of unfavorable wind and weather before he made the record-setting jump late on the afternoon of March 26. He attained the necessary speed, launched his Polaris off the take-off ramp and landed it cleanly and safely a football field away.
“I got up to 87 miles per hour and hit the take-off ramp,” Thacker said. “When I was in the air I just knew it was perfect. Flew over 301 feet. With the amplitude and the way I landed, I knew we got to where we wanted to be. I was already screaming in my helmet on the down run.”
Thacker broke his own snowmobile distance jump record of 271 feet, which he set on a Polaris in the midst of a snowstorm on February 17, 2008, in Shakopee, Minnesota. Thacker joined fellow Monster-sponsored rider Ryan Capes as the only extreme athletes to jump their vehicles 300 feet. Capes accomplished the feat on a motorcycle.
