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British Columbia's Steve Taylor came to snowmobile racing later than many other racers, but so far he hasn't let that slow him down any.
A dirt biker and motocross enthusiast, Taylor had ridden snowmobiles as a kid with his dad, but didn't get the racing bug until well into his teens.
"I didn't know what snocross was until 1999 when a guy sold me a used race sled," Taylor says. He had just attended his first snocross race and thought it looked like fun, so bought the sled to give it a try. He caught on quickly.
In just over a year he was winning regional races and went as far east as Saskatchewan where he beat Yamaha's Jesse Strege. Pretty soon he had hooked up with Blair Morgan and was running for the champ's team.
"I was in the right place at the right time," says a modest Taylor.
Blue skies aheadLast year Taylor became the test pilot for Yamaha's new snocross sled, as the Japanese sledmaker re-entered snocross with its 4-stroke Nytro. But Taylor says he didn't get a lot of seat time as the team was down on parts and equipment. Now as the team's Pro racer, he already has logged a load of miles on the evolving FX Nytro-based racer. Testing lasted until early June, and more testing is planned just prior to this season's start.
"We've run 8-9 hours a day testing the sled. It's grueling, but we've made a lot of progress," Taylor says.
"Last year, the biggest problem was we weren't totally prepared. We didn't have enough parts and only had one sled for Robbie (Malinoski)," he says, noting that something was always breaking as Malinoski, a former Pro Open and Pro Stock champion, pushed to make the sled faster. In this spring's testing, Taylor says breakage was never a problem.
"Now we have the equipment; the team has a bigger budget. We have a totally different sled. It's a lot lighter and works better, and we've got a really good motor. Starts are really important in this series and you want to be out in front as quickly as possible," says Taylor.
He feels good about his chances with the new Yamaha under him, and says his physical training (lots of cardio work and squats) has gotten him into prime shape. He says, "My girlfriend is making sure I'm not eating any cheeseburgers!"
Mentally he feels prepared too.
"I'm the No. 1 guy on the team now. I've always been in others' shadows before, with Blair and Robbie. Plus, I've got a weight advantage, being about 55 lbs. lighter than Robbie," he says. So Taylor knows the power-to-weight pendulum is swinging his way.
ConsistencyWhile his aim is wins and a championship, Taylor, like all other racers, knows consistency is what pays off. So he's aiming for as many top 5 finishes as possible and believes he has the equipment to accomplish that each race. To be successful, he'll continue to use his motocross style of racing that calls for finesse and timing to get to the top.
"I'm not the kind of guy who goes crashing through things to get to the end," says Taylor. Still he hopes to crash the party for Yamaha this season and rack up enough points to put him in contention for a title.
Racer ProfileName: Steve Taylor
Age: 25
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hometown: Prince George, B.C., Canada
Family: Rick (dad), Debbie (step-mom), Bernice (mom), Bob (brother), Matt and Chris (step-brothers), Lynn (step-sister), Bonnie (friend and like a third mom)
Other interests: Motocross
First sled: Yamaha Bravo 250
First race sled: 1998 Arctic Cat Sno Pro (year old)
Most memorable race: 2004 MIS (1st Pro Open win) & 2003 X-Games
Sponsors: Yamaha, DC, FXR and Fly
Yamaha NytroHighlights: Yamaha hadn't unveiled its latest race Nytro yet at press time, although they shared this picture with us. We know Yamaha has worked hard all spring, summer and fall to cut weight, boost power and strengthen the chassis. Driver Steve Taylor is confident reliability will NOT be a problem this season. Oh, and we see here that Yamaha is using new Fox remote reservoir clicker FLOAT shocks too!