I believe it was the unlimited pro class. Daryl was on a 627cc preddy. Check out this link:
627cc "Boomer"

 

yep that is it......wow those motors Doug is building must be something, and boy does that sound like fun.....too bad I am poor!!!.......lol.......Anyways, atleast we know that the preds are doing something on the pro level, and will continue to do something all next year......Good job Daryl and Doug!!!!

 

We have two Predators that we take to the nationals one is a 450 to compete in the Pro-Production class, which Daryl did finish as above, we have had an uphill battle being competitve in that class our 450 with help form Doug (who is by all means a great guy with tons of motor knowledge he has been a big help in our motor program, we just met him a little late in the season) Doug has improved our 450 and I know he is working on it for the last national in Texas. Our 450 is still over 45 pounds heavier then the Yamaha's and Hondas Daryl is racing with in that class, even with the weight issue Daryl has continued to try and improve the bike and continues in his fight to keep competitive with them.

Our big bore which Daryl had not only a win but a very impressive win he had almost a straightaway's lead on 2nd place in the Open Pro Class.

With Daryl and Doug putting their heads together on the Predator talk about a combination, onw ith the motor answers and one with all the speed/after market knowledge. Things are looking up as we head to the last national

You will not find another team/combination like Daryl and Doug who live and breathe with a passion for the Predator.

 

Jen, thanks for the info.....I am very happy to see that Doug and Daryl are working soo hard to finally make a Polaris fast......it won't be long now, and hopefully the preds will be up at the front, and people will gain respect. Daryl can't get 45lbs off of that sucker?? I just thought that you could get that much weight off of the pred, but you would loose strength(and be like the other brands).......They are both very knowledgable, and seem to make a good team, by the wins........I hope daryl keeps driving hard, and Doug keeps up his work too!!!!! Next year shoud be very interesting!!!!

Hey Jen, do you guys have a pic of your pipe up on the site yet?? Doug said it was currently the best pipe out there.....so I was wondering what it looked like, and what it cost....

 

>>Did Rath run that Pred in the Pro class? He came in 12th against the pros.

Daryl WON the Unlimited Pro Class. A first for Polaris.

Daryl also raced the 450 pro class, but his engine builder Doug, told me he selected a set and drag race cams that didn't fit Daryl's style. Doug said it was hard to keep on the pipe, and wasn't the right choice for that track/rider/conditions. You can expect him to find more speed out of that engine, as he learns what Daryl's style needs.

Still, you have to be impressed with the win. That engine uses (here comes the shameless plug) the Falicon 627cc Boomer kit, and this was the first time Doug had bult an engine using it. There were initial problems and the engine wasn't finished until just before the previous race. Daryl has had almost no time riding it. To win on the second try with a new engine configuration is simply amazing. Doug worked his tail off building it, and Daryl did an amazing job riding.

Do you think the guys at Polaris are Happy? You bet!

 

They both(Doug and Daryl, and I guess Polaris too) made a good showing......not I hope that Polaris learns from this, and starts sponsoring guys.....and also keeps making improvements on the pred, or decide to make a totally race quad.......Come on Polaris, if you are going to make a great quad, you need to do the neccessary things to support the sport...

 

From a business standpoint, it’s tough to justify spending money until you know you have a winning formula. It doesn't do any good to sponsor a bunch of guy, only to lose. It only makes the brand look bad.

In that respect, they did the right thing by being careful and focusing on Rath. Now that you have a winning combination of Rath/Nicholas, I'd think the smart move would be to invest in those guys, just like Kawasaki has with Pro Circuit (and Honda before them). Now, if you paid Nicholas to build a batch of engines and maintain them, and paid Rath to recruit riders and run the team, Polaris could actually have a National Championship next year. With just one rider, it doesn't take much bad luck to lose a championship. But it Rath had two or three teammates, those additional guys will help push other riders lower in the points scale.

Look at MotoGP. Yamaha has the best rider (Rossi), but Honda has 6 riders on three teams that are capable of winning. If anything goes less than perfect with Rossi, one of the Hondas will win. Even if Rossi wins, there are enough Hondas between him and everyone else that no other manufacturer stands a chance of winning the manufacturers championship.

As it stands, Rossi has won 6 of the 12 races so far, and various Honda riders have won the other 6 races. Rossi leads the rider's championship, but Honda leads the Constructor's championship with 270 points to Yamaha's 244. Ducati has 111 pts, while Kawasaki has 67 and Suzuki has 58. Honda will likely win the championship from shear numerical superiority.

Now that Rossi has proven that the Yamaha _can_ win, I'll bet Yamaha invests heavily in MotoGP. If there were four more Yamaha riders out there, Yamaha might have prevented Honda from gathering so many points. But from a business standpoint, it would have been a risky venture. Nobody wants to suggest a plan that can get them fired.

Polaris is in the same boat as Yamaha. Now that Rath has honed the race Predator to a winning combination, it's the time to strike. You can bet a concentrated run for the Open Pro championship would help sell a lot of Predators.

Of course, that's just my opinion. What do I know?

 

Sounds good to me......Nicholas Cycle is already sponsored too......so hopefully good things are to come of that pair....

 

I think Daryl/Doug are a (obviously) a VERY serious force in the Open class, but as Jennifer said herself, there is still some work to be done in the Production class. Fourty-five pounds is pretty substantial to over come in a chassis.

Considering that all the guys at that level(Rath included) are in very good physical condition its up to the machinery to loose the weight. With the current chassis/motor design I really don't see it being possible to shed anymore weight, and I'm certain Rath has done everything possible in the way of aftermarket/lighter metal products. I'm still VERY proud of their team that they get the results they do, and I am still proud to list them as the team running the Polaris banner. I just think that in the production class they really have an uphill battle on their hands that may possilbly not be won without going back to the drawing board on R&D and development. IE: new platform/machine.

Reguardless, I'll still be rooting for those guys when I go to see the races. Props to ya Rath/Nicholas cycle! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]