Polaris Australia has come out of blocks with all weapons blazing for the 2016 off-road season with Cody Crocker and Matty Mingay both in Polaris RZR XP Turbos.

Crocker has won the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) Side X Side Challenge for the past 4 years. His domination of the ARC came from a combination of skill and machine reliability when pitted against the fast but fragile CanAm of Michael Guest. For 2016 a new challenge is presented for Crocker and his long-time Co-driver Greg Foletta in the form of the SXS Australian Championship, a stadium based wheel to wheel competition for track supremacy. They will also compete in the three rounds of the Australian Off-Road Championship in the new Superlites category, returning to the “Against the clock” racing style of the ARC but in off-road format rather than the relatively smooth tracks of rallying. This championship also includes the famous Finke Desert Race and Crocker’s target is to go one place better than his 2nd place finish in 2015.

“This season is full on with six SXS Championship events plus the three AORC events” said Crocker. “These events are much better suited to the average punter too as the cost of time and travel is substantially less than ARC. Combined with the production based format for the events, it also means anyone can buy a vehicle off the showroom floor and with a few CAMS mods, be super competitive. I know I’m in for a battle on the track”.

Matty Mingay is a popular figure on and off the track with his facebook page attracting 1.2 million likes. His day to day job is driving the Hot Wheels Drift Cars at the V8 Supercars rounds and motorcycle stunt riding. In recent times, Matty has added to Trophy Truck racing to his repertoire at the V8s, finishing on top of the podium a number of times. As a part time driver in the Polaris RZR Australian Championship in 2015, he is back for a full season in 2016 in the open class SXS Championship.

“I had an insane amount of fun last year and when Polaris told me I was getting the big banger RZR XP Turbo for 2016 I was stoked”, said Mingay. “The RZR XP 1000 astounded me last year with its power and handling and ability to handle those massive MotoX jumps. To have all that plus 30% more horsepower and Turbo grunt out of the corners is unimaginable. I can’t wait!”

The first round of the AORC is at Mildura VIC April 8-10 and the first round of the SXS Championship is at Caboolture QLD on April 23-24.