The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Some unexpected weather conditions left one young snowmobile racer a little farther back in a race than he would have hoped. Creighton's Corbin Collier, 8, attended the Canadian Power Toboggan Championships in Beausejour, MB, and placed third and fourth in the finals for his age group on March 7. Starting off bright and early at 7:30 a.m., the track was ice, rather than the snow that had been there for the qualifying round. Though he was able to remain competitive, Corbin didn't do as well as he had done in the previous races Ð where he placed first and second. "The track was solid ice and we weren't prepared for that," said Tad Collier, Corbin's father. With roughly 30 riders in Corbin's age group, the rider said he thought the races were "good." "We had planned on a softer surface," said Tad, "and we didn't bring our race skies with is." A plus from the ice-covered track was that Tad, along with a few of Corbin's pit crew members, made the decision to bump the young racer into the champ class for next season. The champ class is the top class in the division, said Tad. This season, Corbin said, the competition was the toughest he had seen. Racing in front of his pit crew and family, Corbin said he had a good weekend. Since he started, Corbin has upgraded to racing two snow machines. Next season, in the champ class, he will have five machines. "Now that he's racing two snowmobiles, we needed more crew to help keep up," noted Tad. Switching from the class he is in now to the champ class will mean a change in racing style as well. It "makes it harder," said Corbin, noting that the racers reach speeds of 48 miles an hour. Tad said he knew Corbin was ready to change to the champ class as he watched his son conquer the ice track in the finals. "Watching him on this ice track (and) by the way he rode (and) how he finished...we decided to put him in champ," said the father. As a bonus for Corbin, during the races he was able to meet the Wahl brothers, famous American snowmobilers. "I got their signature," he said proudly, adding that it was "exciting." Though there isn't any more snow on the ground, as non-snowmobilers like to see, the season is far from over for Corbin. He will spend his summer doing time trials on the grass and helping to build a champ engine. But he's okay with that and says the long summer sounds "pretty good."
