Third place finish at 2011 FIM Snowcross Championship crushes Tucker Hibbert’s grand slam pursuit
After enjoying his greatest season ever, America’s Tucker Hibbert was looking to end the season in style by going for a grand slam. He had managed to prevail in the Winter X Games earlier this year and later won two Amsoil Championship Snocross Series titles.
The American was eyeing the International Motorcyclist Federation (FIM) Snowcross championship title on Saturday, 26th March, in Tuuri, Finland.
Unfortunately for him, he failed to accomplish the first ever grand slam of snowmobile racing after a broken drive belt crushed his hopes for the title. Hibbert eventually finished in third place, behind Sweden’s 24-year-old Emil Ohman, who came first, and
Petter Narsa who finished second.
The 27-year-old Minnesotan rider was competing against a field of 46 riders from seven different countries including names such as Garth Kaufman, Logan Christian, Johan Lidman, Magnus Lindback, Cody Thomsen and Janne Jurvelin, not to forget Ohman and Narsa.
An intense battle was waiting for him.
In the first 20-rider, 15-minute race, Hibbert started in ninth position while Narsa and Johan lidman had an excellent start to clinch first and second place. However, the Monster Energy/Arctic Cat managed to take the lead in the 16th lap and
maintained it till the end to win the first race. The sensational comeback from ninth place to first showed the Scandinavians that they needed to up their game to pose any serious threat.
Hibbert managed to pull a top-three start in race two. Within five minutes, he had managed to move into the lead. However, halfway through the race he noticed pieces of his drive belt breaking and flying off under the hood. In a matter of few minutes, the
drive belt had completely shredded, forcing him to walk away from his ride.
As the rules state that the sled cannot be worked on unless it's in the mechanics area, and he was unable to get the snowmobile to the designated work area, he could do nothing but watch. He eventually had to settle for a 16th place end due to
his hard luck. Ohman capitalized on the opportunity and finished in first place with Lidma right behind him.
The second race had pushed Hibbert out of the race for the FIM Snowcross championship title. However, there was still one more race to go. He did not get the most impressive start in the last race. However, he quickly moved to the front, building this lead
to a huge 27-gap between him and Ohman in second place by the end of the race. The win earned him enough points for third overall in the championship.
"I'm really excited about my performance at the World Championship," Hibbert said. "I don't think I have ever felt so in control and confident in a race. Blowing a belt in the second race was disappointing but stuff like that happens -- it's racing."
Extremely proud of what he and his team accomplished in the championship, Hibbert had no regrets of not finishing the event more successfully.
Done with the FIM Snowcross championship, he will return back home to USA and shift his focus to the 450 American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Pro Motocross Championship events.
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