RE WADENA CLIMBING TO THE TOP
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Wadena has been one of Yamaha’s top riders for the past four seasons. A veteran racer, Wadena has been knocking on the door of the elite cross-country world for more than a decade. While all-out success has eluded him, last season he narrowly missed wins in both Pro Stock and Pro Open, and he cracked the Top 5 in Pro Open points. We caught up with Wadena to find out where his program is headed, what drives him and how he narrowly missed winning the big one.
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OSM: What has it been like racing Yamaha for the past four years? Re Wadena: It’s been really fun. The sled has a good torque curve, the fuel mileage is great. It’s a little bit heavier and a little bit harder to handle, but overall it’s a good sled. OSM: You got some second place finishes last season, could you win on it? Wadena: Oh yeah! For sure, especially on the ice. It always had good speed, it pulled well out of the corners, if you had a good setup you’d be able to compete.
OSM: What have you learned being involved with the factory program? Wadena: Yamaha had a good program, they had a lot of factory support. I got to do a lot of hands-on with the sled and the chassis. I was able to help build it from the ground up with Brian Strawsell, Yamaha’s main race mechanic. I learned a lot racing with Yamaha. OSM: You had a couple second place finishes last season, how did that go? Wadena: Those races were right down to the wire and I had a lot of confidence on