Yamaha once again proved the skeptics wrong, this time it occurred in Pinedale, Wyoming during the White Pine Hillclimb.
Pro rookie racer Gavin Balls rocked his brand new Yamaha SR Viper M-TX to a second place finish in the 700 Mod class, giving him his first pro podium of his young and promising career.
More importantly, the wild romp up the hill helped further solidify Yamaha as a true contender in the Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Racing HillClimb Association (RMSHA), as well as the capabilities of the new SR Viper M-TX mountain sled.
While it wasn’t the victory the team knows it’s capable of securing, it was another giant step forward for Yamaha in the western market.
“They said it would be impossible,” said Yamaha Product Manager Rob Powers, referring to Gavin’s accomplishment. “The new SR Viper M-TX is a very capable mountain sled; its powerful, balanced, extremely maneuverable, and rock solid reliable. Every weekend we are proving that on the race track and in the backcountry.”
Gavin also just missed the podium in 600 Mod with a fourth place finish, and garnered a sixth place finish in 700 Improved.
Pinedale marked just the third race for the Yamaha HillClimb Team. Chad Jorgensen, Nathan Titus and Bryan Pack join Gavin, and Troy Johnson of Lincoln County Customs manages the crew.
“Every time we hit the hill we are making improvements,” said Troy. “We knew the Viper M-TX had potential from the very first race. We hit the Bear Lake HillClimb with zero testing, and we were qualifying in the top-ten.” Now that we’ve had some time to dial-in the sleds and get some seat time, you’re gonna see continued improvements from everyone on the team.”
Up next for the Yamaha HillClimb team is the legendary Jackson Hole World Championship in Jackson, Wyoming, March 20-23, 2014.
The team will use the additional time leading up to the race to further hone their skills and the performance of their SR Viper M-TX snowmobiles.
You can follow all the action throughout the season at facebook.com/YamahaSnowmobilesUSA and at youtube.com/YamahaSnowmobilesUSA
