Stage 5 put to the Ultimate Test at 2014 Cain’s Quest

March 17th, 2014 – Boucherville, Quebec, Canada – For the 2014 Edition of the Cain’s Quest endurance snowmobile race, four teams chose to use Elka Suspension’s new Stage 5 shock absorbers for their sleds. This year’s event lived up to its reputation of being one of the toughest snowmobile races, as the racers had to survive temperatures as low as -50°C (-58°F) while fighting rough conditions with very little sleep throughout the 3300 km long course.

The rough course, severe cold and adverse conditions were a real test for the suspension, which the Stage 5 shocks passed with flying colors. Veteran racer Mr. Kirk Hastings from Team #7 was pleased with his first experience on those shocks:

“Our Stage 5 shocks provided us the adjustability that we needed to face the constantly changing environment and carrying capacity. They allowed us to increase the compression damping when carrying 70 liters of fuel, control the rebound for increased spring rates and fine-tune our settings for the areas of constant high-speed square-edged terrain found on the Atlantic ocean. The Stage 5’s tenability was consistent and allowed for a wide range of calibrations, far beyond anything else available on the market today. The progressive action of these shocks enabled Team 7 and Team 5 to travel faster with confidence and ease of operation that allowed strategic position gains where needed.” – said Hastings.

Their choice to go with Elka paid off for Hastings and his teammate David Price, as they claimed a well-deserved 3rd Place finish and a nice check. Mark Simms and George Rodgers from Team 5 also had good words for the Stage 5 shocks:

“We were blown away by the performance and durability. We put well over 3000 of the hardest kilometers known to mankind on those shocks and they never let us down. They kept performing well despite hour after hour of repeated abuse over 4-feet moguls and hard impacts over rocks and trees that demolished a-arms, bulkheads and skis. Slush freezing all over the shocks was a common occurrence and the Elka’s integrated ice scrapers worked great. Many times we went airborne then landed on just one ski and those shocks soaked it up every time, allowing us to stay in complete control.” – said Simms.

Elka Suspension is very proud of the results achieved in the first year at Cain’s Quest. We are thankful to the riders who chose to put their faith in the Stage 5 shocks for this grueling test of man and machine. We look forward to next year and hope to help more riders get on the podium aboard our products.