Can-Am X-Team

Can-Am had a wild weekend of racing at the Unadilla GNCC race near New Berlin, N.Y. The morning started great for the Can-Am X-Team as Bryan Buckhannon rode his Outlander 800 to the morning overall. This market only the second time, since the GNCC series split into two sessions, that a utility rider won the overall championship race. Buckhannon beat 274 other riders for the win. Buckhannon has already wrapped up the 4x4 Open championship and has 10 wins in 11 races.

In the afternoon session, Chris Bithell had a less-than-ideal start as he was dead last when the rest of the 21 fastest cross-country racers in the world headed into the woods. Not to be deterred he put his head down and started pushing his Team Warnert Racing-prepped DS 450 to the front of the pack. By the third lap he had taken the lead and was being pursued by eight-time GNCC champion Bill Ballance. Bithell was to be victorious and gave the Can-Am DS 450 its first overall GNCC win.

Amateur racer Cole Henry of Virginia took home two ITP Grand Slam championships this weekend at Loretta Lynn's Dirt Days. Henry rode was crowned champion in both the 450 B and 4-Stroke B classes. He finished the season with two wins-in-a-row in the 450 B class. Henry rides a DS 450 X ATV on the motocross track.

In the Pro class, Cody Miller, Greg Gee and Jeremy Lawson all finished in the top-10 with Gee having one of his strongest motos of the season.

While the amateur riders are done for the season, the Pro-class racers are not. Can-Am recieved five invitations to the AMA Pro ATV Invitational at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa. The race takes place on August 30th.

Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am DS 450 rider John Natalie just missed getting on the podium at Red Bud as he rode his DS 450 to a fourth-place finish. Natalie also clicked the third-fastest lap time in the Pro qualifier. Team Epic Racing / Can-Am's Jeremy Lawson rode two consistent motos and finished in the top ten aboard his DS 450. Both riders are getting prepped for the final round of racing at Loretta Lynn's MX in Tennessee the weekend of August 9 and 10.

In addition, both riders have been extended invitations to the Steel City ATV Pro MX invitational in September. 

Team Motoworks / Can-Am riders Brandon Smith and Josh Frederick went one-two respectively at round five of the ITP Quadcross series held at Glen Helen Raceway. Smith rode his DS 450 into the lead passing teammate Frederick toward the end of the final Pro race. His win puts him comfortably in second place in the points championship with four rounds to go.

In the amateur ranks, Motoworks rider Dillon Zimmerman comfortably won the 2- and 4-Stroke Expert class for the weekend.

The next race in the ITP Quadcross championship is August 10th at Glen Helen Raceway.

Can-Am Outlander ATVs swept all the 4x4 classes at the Mountain Ridge GNCC and also swept both the 4x4 Limited and  4x4 Lites podium, bringing the 4x4 championships within sight. Team Warnert / Can-Am rider Michael Swift won by six minutes to take the 4x4 Limited race, while his teammate Clifton Beasley won the 4x4 Lites race. In the 4x4 Open class, Can-Am X-Team racer Bryan Buckhannon took top honors.

During the afternoon session, Team Warnert / Can-Am teammates Chris Jenks and Chris Bithell both finished in the top 10 of the XC1 Pro class aboard their DS 450 ATVs.

With both the ITP Quadcross and WORCS series races taking a brief break for the summer, one would think Team Motoworks / Can-Am would also be on break. Oh, no, not these guys. With the break in schedule, the entire team will head out East to partake in both the GNCC and AMA / ATVA Motocross Nationals.

“This is a great way for the racers and crew to join our other teams and catch up on the progress we’ve made with the DS 450,” says Del Bohlman, Product, Media Relation and Racing Manager for Can-Am ATVs at BRP. “It is also a great way to have fun, too. Josh Frederick, Brandon Smith and Dillon Zimmerman have all been excited to try some other racing series for a change of scenery.”

At the Mountain Ridge GNCC near Somerset, PA, on July 5, both Frederick and Zimmerman will race their race-prepped DS 450s out of the Team Motoworks hauler. The team will then be joined by teammate Brandon Smith and will head to Pleasure Valley Raceway Armagh, Pa., for the AMA / ATVA Motocross National on July 12-13. Both Zimmerman and Smith will be racing the Motocross National.

Right now in the ITP Quadcross championship Team Motoworks / Can-Am has five class wins in four rounds. In the WORCS championship the team has 11 class wins in five rounds. The team will head back West for the July 20^th ITP Quadcross at Glen Helen Raceway near San Bernardino, Ca.

Can-Am racers had an active weekend of racing as three ATV racing series were running from the West coast to the East coast. Out in Phoenix, Ariz., where temps soared into the triple digits, DS 450 racers Josh Frederick and Brandon Smith of Team Motoworks lit up the ITP Quadcross Pro class with a second- and third-place finish, respectively. In the amateur ranks, Team Motoworks' Dillon Zimmerman easily won the 4-Stroke Expert class.

Out east, both the GNCC and AMA/ATVA Motocross series were active. At the Muddy Creek AMA/ATVA National, three Can-Am DS 450 riders finished in the top 10, with Epic Racing / Can-Am's Jeremy Lawson finishing fourth in the second moto.

In the GNCC series, Team Warnert / Can-Am DS 450 rider, Lexie Coulter, finished fourth overall in the morning class after a close battle with the top-three finishers. X-Team rider, Bryan Buckhannon, on his Outlander 800 continued his eight-race win streak in the 4x4 Open class. Buckhannon hasn't lost this season! Warnert's Michael Swift easily won the 4x4 Limited class on his Outlander 800, while his teammate, Cliff Beasley, won the 4x4 Lites class aboard his Outlander 500. Beasley edged out Team Looney Tuned Exhaust rider Jeremie Dudding who came in second on his Outlander.

Team Epic Racing / Can-Am's Jeremy Lawson and Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am's John Natalie won Sunday's two Pro-class motos on their Can-Am DS 450s. In the first moto, Lawson picked two top riders to take the lead early in the race. Once out front, he maintained his lead and won easily as he increased his lead on second place. The second moto saw Natalie make a textbook pass for the lead early in the second moto and never looked back.

With Lawson's fifth-place finish in the second moto, he was second overall -- his second podium finish in a row. Natalie took fourth overall for the weekend. After this weekend, both riders are in the top-10 in points with Natalie in fourth.

Riding his DS 450 X, Cole Henry took the 2008 Liquid Performance US Eastern Spring Series championship in impressive fashion, clinching the Open B title with a 1-1 moto finish at Lake Sugar Tree in Axton, Virginia. Henry competed in five of the six series events winning all five races and not dropping one moto in the process.

Henry also competed in the North Carolina State Championship race at Rolling Hills Cycle Park and won the Open B class with a 1-1 moto finish. Henry continues to race selected National ATV motocross events. He is currently fourth in points in the 450 B class for the ITP Grand Slam.

Team Looney Tuned Exhaust / Can-Am™ rider Lexie Coulter took second overall and second in the GNCC Women class last Saturday at the Loretta Lynn GNCC. The Can-Am DS 450™ rider looked strong throughout the morning session as she finished in front of nearly 340 other racers. Coulter is now third in the Women class championship, eight points behind first. Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am rider Michael Swift continued his dominance of the 4x4 Limited class as he increased his points lead in the class championship aboard his Outlander 800™.

On the motocross front, Jeremy Lawson put together two solid moto finishes to take fifth overall at the AMA/ATVA National Motocross race at Birch Creek Raceway in Virginia. The Epic Racing / Can-Am rider took his DS 450 and rode hard against the toughest ATV motocross competition on the planet.

Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am racer John Natalie recovered from a nast first-moto crash to win the second moto at the Bluegrass Nationals near Bowling Green, Ky. Natalie finished sixth overall and had the second-fastest qualifying lap aboard his race-prepped  DS 450 at the Ballance Moto-X track.

At the Big Buck GNCC, Team Looney Tuned Exhaust / Can-Am's Lexie Coulter finished third overall in the morning session after pressuring the eventual winner all race long. This is Coulter's best finish of the season on her DS 450 and capped off the morning session that saw more Can-Am Outlander domination in the 4x4 classes.

Round 2 of the ITP Quadcross series saw more Can-Am success as Team Motoworks / Can-Am Pro-class riders Brandon Smith and Josh Frederick powered their DS 450s to second- and fouth-place finishes respectively. The two riders are looking forward to the next Quadcross round and WORCS race.

Can-Am factory and support riders had another exciting weekend of racing with excellent results in the GNCC series, ITP Quadcross series and AMA/ATVA Motocross series.

In the GNCC series, Women-class racer Lexie Coulter battled hard to finish third overall at the Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina. The race featured an intense battle to the finish in the class with each of the top-three racers finishing within a minute of one another. This is Coulter's first podium of the year and the first podium for the highly advanced DS 450 sport ATV in the GNCC series.

In another first for the DS 450, John Natalie took the second-moto win at the Ballance X AMA/ATVA National in Bowling Green, Ky. His second-moto win represents the first AMA/ATVA win for the DS 450. Natalie looked strong in the second moto recovering after a crash in the first moto after taking the holeshot and leading the field of 20 racers. Natalie says he feels strong and confident on the DS 450 and looks forward to his next race.

Can-Am had another successful weekend of racing with wins in Georgia and California. Can-Am X-Team racer Bryan Buckhannon along with three other Outlander™ riders won their classes at the General GNCC. Buckhannon took third overall out of nearly 250 riders in the morning session. DS 450 riders Lexie Coulter in the Women's class (Team Looney Tuned Exhaust / Can-Am) and Chris Bithell in the XC1 Pro class (Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am) were each battling for the lead of their respective classes, but the terrible weather and course conditions caused them to get stuck on the final lap and drop valuable positions. 

At the ITP / Moose Racing AMA/ATVA Motocross National at Glen Helen Raceway in California, Team Warnert Racing / Can-Am's John Natalie had an impressive MX debut for the DS 450. He took fourth overall out of 20 other riders in the Pro 450 class. All five DS 450 riders qualified for the final motos on Sunday. Team Epic Racing / Can-Am's Sage Baker took ninth overall in the Pro class.

Finally, the ITP Quadcross season got underway at Glen Helen and Team Motoworks / Can-Am's Josh Frederick took third in the Pro 450 class. His teammate, Brandon Smith, was running as high as fifth but engine trouble prevented him from staying in second place. Dillon Zimmerman, also of Team Motoworks, took first in the second race of the Four-Stroke Expert class for the weekend.

Can-Am ATVs Claim Top Honors in Four Classes; DS 450 Makes its GNCC Debut

Valcourt, Quebec, March 5, 2008 - BRP's Can-Am™ Outlander™ and Renegade™ ATVs proved to be the machines to beat in the morning session of the Can-Am GNCC opening round of the 2008 season. The Triton GNCC, held near Melbourne, Fl., saw warm weather and dry conditions - a perfect start to the 13-round GNCC season. Can-Am ATVs took three of the top-five overall positions in the morning class, and saw the DS 450TM sport ATV makes its XC1 Pro-class debut with a top-10 finish.

Josh Frederick piloted his Team Motoworks / Can-AmTM DS 450TM, to the WORCS round two victory nearly three minutes ahead of second place. This is his second victory in as many tries in the WORCS Pro ATV class this season and his third WORCS Pro ATV-class win on Can-Am's DS 450 going back to last season.

Josh Frederick really stunned everyone during that memorable race, as he had to do an unscheduled pit stop which put him in the last spot. He only had one goal in mind and it was to prove that he and his Motoworks Can-Am DS 450 could regain the top spot.

Excitement could be felt in the crowd as he managed to do the impossible by becoming the leader of the pack in the 7th lap by chewing away a two-minute gap on the leader and cross the finish line in the top position with almost 1 minute ahead of YFZ-mounted Dustin Nelson.

"We are so excited to have these results this weekend," said Johnny Leech, Team Motoworks / Can-Am owner. "Our pits were electrified when Josh (Fredreick) came across the line in first. Everyone feels confident right now and with continued hard work it will help us step toward giving Josh his second WORCS championship this year."

In the Open Pro class, Frederick's teammate, Brandon Smith, took the win by about three minutes aboard his Team Motoworks / Can-Am DS 450 for the class win. In the amateur classes, Motoworks' Dillon Zimmerman took the win in both the Pro-Am and Open A classes, also on a DS 450.

All Can-Am race teams are working hard putting the DS 450 through the toughest conditions to work any bugs out of the race ATVs. In Florida, both the Warnert Racing team and the Looney Tuned Exhaust teams are riding nearly every day from sun up to sun down in order to be at 100 percent for the start of the GNCC and AMA/ATVA GNC Nationals. Recently, ITP attended a testing session to help the racers dial in tire preferences and suspension settings.

While out in California Epic Racing and Team Motoworks are working equally hard making sure the DS 450 will be ready to race against the toughest ATV racing competition in the world.

"One of the toughest things to do is start racing a new product," says Del Bohlman. "However, our racers are confident this machine will be ready to perform against the established race ATV from other teams; everyone at Can-Am is excited to see the DS 450 and Outlanders perform on the track."

Can-Am has already seen success with Team Motoworks in the opening round of the WORCS series in Arizona. Josh Frederick rode his race-prepped DS 450 to the win in the pro class during a race with brutal weather conditions. Frederick's win signaled to the rest of the racers that the machine is ready to go, now it is time to take testing a training to a new level before the season begins in earnest.

The action starts on the East Coast March 2 with the Triton GNCC and on the West Coast with the AMA/ATVA Glen Helen ATV National on March 9. Keep checking the Web site for the latest racing updates.