November 21, 2008
Taylor Hayden SX update
Yamaha Factory Snocross Race Team, update
I spoke with Greg Marier this morning, who is at Planet X with the Factory Snocross race team. I haven’t spoken with Greg since last spring when they were shaking out some new ideas after the CSRA final at Horseshoe Valley Resort. I have been hearing some interesting comments on the new FX Nytro racers and thought with round one of the new ISOC series being held at Spirit Mountain, Duluth set to go off next week, it would be a good time to do some digging.
I could tell immediately, Greg is excited about the potential the team is showing and the advancements they have achieved since last spring. He is being typically guarded about the mechanical workings of the stock-based chassis. As most of you know, the race engines are supplied direct from our factory, built up from the 1050 triple with a smattering of exotic parts. They are configured to shape the power to meet the demands of pro-level snocross racing which translates into mega throttle response. And Greg says YMC has delivered in spades. The biggest advantage of the 4-stroke over the competition is realized in the quick response available at any throttle setting. This is where our engineers have focused. That said, as a bonus they have also delivered a bit more peek horsepower over last years mill.
The chassis set-ups have undergone some major revisions over last year (reading between the lines) but I am going to have to buy Greg a couple of stiff ones before I attempt to pry any details from him. The good news is during testing they have not had any serious durability issues and no gremlins have yet to surface.
Steve Taylor is joined this year by another Canadian rider Iain Hayden. They have both been working hard in the off-season to get into top physical condition. Calgary native, Drew Robertson was hired by the team as their personal trainer and motivational guru. According Andre Laurin, the team manager, Drew’s program and discipline has clearly shown some significant results.
Greg mentioned they are now dealing with the first real saddle-time of the season, firing up the muscles in a real track environment and dealing with the adrenaline charged, mental preparation a week out from the first major race. Steve rode two fifteen minute motos followed by two twenty minute motos yesterday which may not sound like a lot but is quite a haul at a pro-level pace. This bodes very well for his physical conditioning this early in the year. Iain, I am told, is also looking very comfortable and in control on board his Nytro.
The plan now is to tear down and carefully inspect the sleds then re-assemble for another practice session Monday, after which the riders will hit the gym in final preparation for the Duluth start line. Practice for the team will commence next Friday Nov 28 and carry through Saturday with the race going off Sunday the 30th. If all goes well, the team plans to travel north to Canada and enter the first round of CSRA racing at Searchmont Resort, outside of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.
I received a copy of some media material released by Yamaha USA which some of you may find of interest. It comes in the form of an article describing the basis of the team structure and equipment: yamaha-sled.doc as well as the full media kit in PDF form: 09-full-snocross-kit.pdf
I sense the guys are outwardly being ‘cautiously optimistic’ but once prodded it is apparent they are really stoked with the potential of both sleds and riders, as Andre put it, they are ‘incredibly impressive’. Lets hope that we see another ‘David and Goliath’ return this year, with little Team Blue making some regular appearances on the ‘box’.
Good luck guys… all of us here at YMCA are rooting for you.
Cheers
cr
hey chris,the new sled looks wicked,i have never paid much attention to snocross racing until yamaha entered the circuit 3 years ago,now im all pumped about it,i truly believe that better sleds will come from racing in the future,not that we dont have great sleds now,i hope to see a yamaha team in the csra circuit this year,now im going to my dealer to pick up my new vector ltx,good luck racers,
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:07 amHey chris,is the rule still in place in the ISOC rulebook on the use of gear reduction on the motor and is Yuji Nakazawa racing in north america this year?
Yes the gear reduction rules are still in place and at this time I don’t believe Yuji has any plans to race over here this season. As far as I know he is still doing development riding for factory and will compete in the Japan series for Yamaha.
cheers
cr
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:47 amSounds like the Yamaha boys are ready for another season and are ready to take another step towards being taken very seriously in snocross.
November 22nd, 2008 at 1:37 pmI wish them all the success in the world and I hope to see plenty of blue on the podium this year.
Its a shame that Yuji-san wont be racing in North America this year. Ive been a fan of his for a long time and will definetly miss seeing the san-roku (thats 36 for those of you who dont speak Japanese) out on the track. Oh well, I wish him the best of luck and hopefully sometime in the future he decides to come back to racing in the states.
Hi Chris; The new Yamaha’s look Awesome!
Hopefully Steve & Iain will put their Yamaha’s in the winners circle this season. Good Luck Guys, the Troops over at TY will be rooting for ya!
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pmIt’s interesting that Steve and Iain can race so hard and be successful on a constant basis. When you sit and talk with them between races, they are both easy going and are surprisingly mellow. (If I could ride/race 1/2 that well, I wouldn’t stop bragging for months!)
Steve and Iain raced against each other in the past, did they comment on what it’s like being team-mates this year?
Will the Yamaha trailer have a couple GPX’s for the boys to race vintage Snow-X at HorseShoe?
Phil Molto’
I’ll try to talk to the boys and get their insights on the team as a whole… regarding them racing GPX’s in vintage… do you really want the competition?
November 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am