Steve LaMunion's '97 Ski Doo Mach 1

Nov. 01, 2005 By ORC STAFF

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This is my 1997 Ski-Doo Mach 1, 700 triple. Some of you may remember it from the story I wrote for the Oct 98 issue of Snowmobile Online. Last year was my first season in the asphalt NHRA Snowmobile eliminator class (bracket racing). The engine and clutch setup came from Powerhouse Racing, Belleville Ontario Canada (teampowerhouse@sympatico.ca). For the 98 season I raced the sled with stock pipes, and all stock suspension components. Combined sled/driver weight for this machine was 806 lbs. My best run last year was 11.603 @ 110mph. My final round appearances were few and far between due to my inexperience. Let me tell you, the starting line Christmas tree is a lot harder when you're in front of it than it is when you're watching from the sideline. You have to get used to thinking in thousandths of a second.

For the 1999 season, I saved up my lunch money and went back to Powerhouse Racing for another dose of hp. Based on my limited budget they were able to pull 177hp from the 700cc Rotax engine after porting and changing out the stock pipes for Crankshop pipes. Dyno testing was done on a Superflo dyno at Iantomasi Track & Trail in Bowmanville Ontario. I trimmed some components that were no longer needed on the sled and replaced other with light weight parts (WARNING: the need for speed is very addictive!). A weigh in of the sled and driver this year brought the combination down to 765lbs. This sled isn't nicknamed the "Mach Ton" for nothing! This driver isn't exactly a jockey size person either. Typical sled racers are not 6'1" @ 265lbs Maybe a diet is in order; or just standing around in a leather suite when it's 95F out will sweat the weight off in a hurry. With the increase in HP and change in the power curve, we had to refine the clutching and gear to work at 9300 instead of 8600 rpm. The sled is tuned pretty close to its optimum setup. My best time to date has been 10.68 @ 122mph.

So what are all you hot rods doing parking your sled for the summer? What could be better than racing on asphalt? No more excuses like "i don't have enough studs" or "it didn't hook up" ha ha. There is no more consistent race condition than an asphalt track prepared with traction compound and a computer controlled starting tree. Better yet, it's a handicap start so you can race your Mach Z against your buddies Formula 500 and still have a fair race.

If you want to talk about NHRA bracket racing you can email me at dragrace@twcny.rr.com.

Last but not least, even though I'm a Ski Doo fan, I've also included a picture of Bob Algers' ZRT 800 asphalt sled. Isnt' that ZRT an ugly sled??. Bob is a friend that I originally met on IRC #snowmobile chat. Turned out he lives in Syracuse NY as well. We've been riding together for a few years and now have this rivalry of sorts with our asphalt sleds. Mine is a jazzed up 700 while his is a mostly stock 800. This picture shows the only time was ever ahead of me on the race track so he's very proud of it. You can see only the nose of my sled in the picture. I was asleep at the light!!