Polaris race report: Jan. 15-16

Seasoned veteran racers and up-and-comers used Polaris snowmobiles to win six races at the United States Cross Country Snowmobile Racing Assn. (USCC) Grand Cities 100 in Grand Forks, ND, on Jan. 15.

Corey Davidson, who has been a winning Polaris racer in multiple race disciplines for over a decade, won the highly competitive Pro 600 race at Grand Forks, as well as the Vet 30+ and Masters 40+ classes. It was Davidson’s second-straight Pro 600 win this season, as he also won the non-points season opener at Grafton, N.D., in early January.

Bobby Menne IV (Bunke Racing), a Semi-Pro class rookie this season, won the Semi-Pro Improved race on a Polaris 600 RUSH Pro-R, and he finished fourth in Semi-Pro 600, a class he won in the season’s first race.

Bobby Menne IV earned a victory in the Semi-Pro Improved class.

“The Polaris 600 RUSH Pro-R was really working well,” says Menne. “The bumps and angled drifts you see at the beginning of these races can be tough, but the sled stays straight and has a lot of speed, which is what you need.”

Other Polaris racers who won their classes at Grand Forks were Torrey Erickson in the Trail class, and Rick Kerner, who won the Masters 50+ race.

Because Grand Forks was the first points race of the USCC season, each racer’s finishing spot represents his current place in the points standings for that class.

PRO Classes: Davidson Takes Early Points Lead

Corey Davidson’s early season performance makes him a top contender for the Pro 600 points title. He has won twice on a Polaris IQ Race Sled and has the points lead in a class where he finished 11th in points last season.

Polaris racer Aaron Christensen finished fourth in Pro 600 at Grand Forks and Gabe Bunke (Bunke Racing) finished seventh.

In Pro Open, Christensen finished second, just 10 seconds behind the winner, Justin Tate finished third to earn a podium spot, and Bunke was ninth.

SEMI-PRO Classes: Two Podiums for Polaris Racers

While Bobby Menne IV won the Semi-Pro Improved class to take the early class points lead, Polaris racer Travis Faust also earned a podium spot with a third-place finish, and Dillan Dohrn was fourth.

Menne finished fourth in Semi-Pro 600 and Ken Christensen was fifth.

In the Vet 30+ race, defending points champion Davidson earned the victory, while fellow Polaris racer Jesse Thelen was third, Karl Jacobson was fifth and Jeff Klein was seventh.

In Masters 40+, Davidson won the race and Ken Christensen was second.

The next USCC race is the three-day USCC Red Lake I-500, which will be run Jan. 21-23 from Thief River Falls, Minn. Racers will run a loop each day, starting and finishing near Thief River Falls, with the overall winners determined by three-day cumulative times.