Official Team Polaris/Xtreme Plus participated for the first time ever at the Dakar 2012, the world’s toughest off-road race. After having developed a special new FIA class (T3) for the RZR, the Polaris/Xtreme Plus Team had run some tests in several events, and won the Dakar Series, in Russia, in July 2011.

But Dakar is definitely another story, with more than 9000 kilometers (5592 miles) of racing, three countries crossed in South America, 469 participants, and various terrain and extreme weather conditions.

Team Polaris/Xtreme Plus enrolled a very experienced driver Willy Alcaraz No. 374, who had participated in Dakar in several classes as a driver and co-driver, and set up one goal for the first event, reach Lima in Peru in the Polaris Ranger RZR XP 900!

Kymco USA, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has issued a recall of the UXV 500 side-by-side due to a potential fire hazard.

According to the recall notice, an exposed portion of the exhaust system could potentially allow debris such as leaves or brush or other flammable materials to catch fire and burn. To date three cases have been reported of vehicles that have caught fire, causing damage to the vehicle. No injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of these incidents.

Kymco says about 1876 vehicles are affected by the recall. The recall includes all Kymco UXV vehicles (Standard, LE and SE) produced as 2009 through 2011 and a limited number of model year 2012 Standard, LE and SE models.

Though it’s still January the 2012 ATV racing season is already in full swing. The first round of the WORCS series is already in the books and Beau Baron rode his Honda TRX450R to victory in the Pro ATV class.

Zbroz Racing/EXIT Shocks rider Robbie Mitchell fought his way to a seventh place finish and the team put together a highlight video from the race. Hopefully we’ll see more videos like this throughout the season.

Monster Energy Kawasaki off-road racers kicked-off the opening rounds of the World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS) ATV/UTV season at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif.

Muzzy’s Kawasaki driver Dan Kelly powered his Kawasaki Teryx to the top of the podium in the SxS Production 850 class with fellow Teryx drivers David Lytle in second and Funco Kawasaki’s Garrett George in fifth. In the SxS Production 1000 class, Funco Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Taylor George finished 10th while Muzzy’s Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Robert VanBeekum blew a tire while leading the pack and had to pull off the track.

Sound Strategy

After a series of storms inundated the track at Glen Helen Raceway with more water than it could absorb, racers knew the opening round of the WORCS ATV season would be nothing short of a mug bog. Muzzy’s Kawasaki pilot Kelly came into the weekend with a single goal, to just finish the 45-minute race, regardless of position. When the gate dropped Kelly nailed the holeshot and led wire-to-wire to take the win in the SxS Production 850 class.

Something must be in the water in Minnesota. Just a day after Polaris announced its record sales numbers for 2011, Arctic Cat is reporting significant sales growth in its fiscal third quarter.

“We are very pleased with the company’s strong third-quarter and year-to-date performance. Arctic Cat continued to execute well during the quarter, producing double-digit sales and earnings gains,” says Claude Jordan, Arctic Cat’s president and chief executive officer. “Our focus on introducing innovative products and technologies, such as our extensive new snowmobile line-up and the Wildcat sport side-by-side, contributed to the strong third-quarter results and helped generate increased sales across all product lines.”

Jordan has a right to be pleased. Arctic Cat’s net snowmobile, ATV and UTV sales grew 36 percent in the third quarter to $179.6 million, compared to $126.4 million a year ago. Year-to-date sales (nine months ended Dec. 31, 2011) have jumped to $408.4 million, compared to $319.5 million the previous year. Add in Parts, Garments & Accessories and the sales number jumps to $486.8 million, compared to $391.2 million in 2010.