Iain Hayden took his Monster Energy/Yamaha USA/OTSFF Racing 4-stroke FX Nytro® competition sled to two, top five finishes at the storied Eagle River Derby track in Eagle River, Wisconsin this past weekend. In fact, ‘five’ proved to be the magic number for Hayden all weekend long.

Eagle River, which has been hosting snowmobile racing for the past 41 years, has become synonymous with this exciting winter sport and is a magnet for North America’s top sled competitors. The week long event, which included various classes and disciplines including ice oval racing, culminated with a double-header snocross shootout. Not surprisingly, Team Monster Energy/Yamaha USA/OTSFF Racing had been looking forward to this classic race since the start of the season in December.

Hayden firmly held his own in the featured snocross competition, which kicked off on Friday, January 15th. Although he ended up with the last gate pick for all three qualifying heats – putting him in an unfavourable outside position – he sliced and diced his way from the back of the pack to claim top five positions at the finish line each time out. This put him on the front row for the final in sixth gate position. In the final, in a field of  drivers, he battled hard managing to put one driver behind him and then defend his place till the checkered was waved.

“Where you started is pretty well where you finished. The track was really tight and one line. I was able to grab fifth off the start and settled there. After the first lap, there was no passing unless the guy in front of you made a mistake, and that wasn’t happening,” said Hayden.

On Saturday, he again had his work cut out in the qualifiers for Sunday’s final. Again top five finished were the order of the day. Despite a bad start in the final that saw him going into the first turn in tenth place, an on fire Hayden quickly powered his Nytro FX® into fifth place. Once there, he settled into the blistering pace of the lead group and stayed there till the finish line.

  “Everybody did a great job this weekend and my Nytro was definitely up to the task. I didn’t go to Eagle River to finish fifth but regardless I was happy with the way I rode and the performance of my sled. Sometimes you ride really well and don’t get the win and that was pretty well the case. It pretty well came down to the luck of the draw. The fact that I managed to get by four of five guys in the final was a big plus,” Hayden explained.

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