Teams of two racers each, riding BRP designed and built Ski-Doo snowmobiles, took the top three spots in this year’s gruelling Cains Quest cross country race. This marks the first time a brand has swept the top three spots since the race began six years ago.
Cains Quest is a true cross-country race over five days where each team navigates to nine check points on their own – no course markers or guidance is provided.
The 2011 race presented some extremely challenging conditions right from the start as the course had to be changed completely due to unseasonably warm weather, and racers took off into rain that changed to a blizzard before the first day was over. With the change in route many felt this was the most rugged course seen yet.
Coming home first were Robert Gardner and Rich Knipping of Team Maine, known as Team 22 for those following the race reports. This was their first win in the last 4 races and marks the second straight win for BRP’s Ski-Doo snowmobiles.
Following closely in second position, just two minutes behind, were local racers Gary and Chris Travers. Rounding out the sweep were last year’s winners Eric Hall and Tim Lessard, also from Maine.
The three teams shared a few common elements; great preparation, skill and perseverance, combined with the power and reliability of their Rotax-powered snowmobiles.
The first and third place teams chose BRP’s Ski-Doo Renegade models powered by Rotax E-TEC 800R engines, while the second place team was on an older Ski-Doo Summit X-RS Hillclimb Edition sled featuring the Rotax PowerTEK 800R engine.
Both choices proved to work great as the teams experienced no failures, allowing them to focus on the obstacles Mother Nature would throw at them instead.
“BRP’s Rotax E-TEC 800R engine provided us with a huge advantage, almost unfair, compared to most of our competitors,” stated Robert Gardner from Team Maine. “Having to stop less often and carry less fuel is big in a race like this. Plus we never had to take out a tool to fix or adjust anything – the sleds were bulletproof the whole race.”
The 2011 Cains Quest results tell the facts about Ski-Doo performance and reliability. When you want the complete package of performance, fuel efficiency and reliability – Ski-Doo snowmobiles are your only real choice.
For complete race results visit the Ski-Doo X-Team home page at >a href=”http://www.ski-doo.com” target=”_blank”>www.ski-doo.com
