Four-stroke FX Nytro RTX snowmobiles raced to a strong pair of podium finishes at the USXC Beach Bar 200 at Detroit Lakes, Minn. on Saturday, Jan. 5.

Fuel Med RX Yamaha’s Ben Lindbom took a close second and Jake Muller finished third in the afternoon Semi-Pro Improved final, while Re Wadena and Muller added respective seventh- and 12th-place finishes in Pro Open. Longtime Yamaha racer Ross Erdman was poised to do even better, leading the Pro Open event until a minor electrical issue took him out of the running.

With 15-degree temperatures, calm winds and blue skies, the weather conditions proved ideal for snowmobile racing on ice. And the USXC lake course took full advantage of it, as the 10-mile layout featured dozens of groomed turns and straightaways up to a half-mile long – plenty of room for the Yamaha four-strokes to stretch their legs.

The latest episode of the Yamaha Racing Show is up and running and it focuses on the final stop of the USCC Cross Country Snowmobile Racing series in Warroad, Minn.

Team rider Ross Erdman picked up a win in the season finale, which helped him to a second-place finish in the Pro championship. However, the coolest part of the video was the onboard footage of Semi-Pro rider Ben Lindbom’s crash. That looked absolutely devastating, but he still managed to get back on board his FX Nytro RTX and finish the race. We’re stunned he wasn’t badly hurt.

We also enjoyed some tech talk with Rick Strobel, Fox Racing manager. Strobel talks us through the air technology in the Fox Float X Evol shocks, which features external adjustments on the dual air chambers. Very cool!

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Yamaha four-stroke snowmobiles wrapped up the 2012 cross-country racing season in winning style as Ross Erdman commanded the Pro finale aboard his FX Nytro RTX in the Warroad 75 in Warroad, Minn. on Sunday, March 11. The victory, along with a fifth-place finish on Saturday, gave Erdman second overall in the Pro division. Teammate Ben Lindbom likewise earned second place in the Semi Pro championship after placing fourth on Saturday.

The season-ending cross-country races were held at Minnesota’s enormous Lake of the Woods, with the 10.8-mile course a brutal test of sleds and riders. Both Erdman and Lindbom excelled in Saturday’s event, leading the first lap in their respective classes before the rough course began favoring a longer-travel setup than the team had selected. Dissatisfied with their top-five finishes for the day, they revised the suspension settings for Sunday’s contest, where Erdman simply excelled, rocketing his FX Nytro to the win. Lindbom was equally impressive in his rookie cross-country finale before crashing out, fortunately without injury.

“This was a naturally rough course, like a motocross track frozen solid,” explained crew chief Brian Strawsell. “It all came down to Ross picking better lines.”

“I am so proud of this team – Brian did a great job getting the sleds ready, and Ross and Ben went out there and rode like champions,” says Yamaha’s Eric Josephsen.”

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ross Erdman scored a landmark Pro Open class win aboard his four-stroke FX Nytro in the USCC Pine Lake 100 in Gonvick, Minn., on Sunday, Jan. 15. Not only was Erdman’s victory against a field of rival two-strokes, but it will also go down in history as the FX Nytro’s first-ever USCC pro race win.

Also aboard an FX Nytro, teammate Ben Lindom fought to an unofficial second place in the Semi Pro 600 class, while Erdman likewise ran a strong second in Pro 600 before retiring with a minor mechanical issue just two laps from the finish. Other FX Nytro racers flying the Yamaha flag were Nathan Titus in Pro 600 and Pro Vet, and Jake Jorgensen in Semi Pro Improved.

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Yamaha Motor Corporation has announced its return to snowmobile competition for the 2011-12 season. Yamaha racers will compete in the United States Cross Country (USCC) circuits (Midwest and East) and the Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Hillclimb Association (RMSHA) circuit.

The USCC Midwest series will see Yamaha veterans Ross Erdman and Nathan Titus racing on the FX Nytro RTX in the Pro class, while the up-and-coming Ben Lindbom and Jake Jorgeson will saddle up for the Semi-Pro class. Rounding off the USCC team in the Sport class is Seth Thorsen and Steve Emerson on the Phazer RTX.

Longtime Yamaha snowmobile racer Erik Frigon will race Semi-Pro while mentoring Sport racer Michael Ewaschuk in the emerging USCC East division.

“We’re really excited to get back into racing” says Wade West, Yamaha’s snowmobile marketing manager. “The increased interest in grassroots racing over the past few years makes our entry into cross country racing all the more important. We’ve found that the market is moving away from the prepackaged spectacle of stadium snocross and gravitating more toward the relatable cross country events that compete on the same trails we ride. That’s where our high performance 4-stroke power shines and what our FX Nytro models were engineered to do.