Dan Falloon
Local snowmobile racer Curtis Boivin soared to the top of the world this past weekend.
Boivin captured gold in both of his events at the 2010 World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River, Wis.
The 17-year-old took home the Friday Night Thunder semi-pro championship before following up with the semi-pro crown on Sunday.
Both are oval events as opposed to snow-cross.
Boivin has appeared in various divisions in Eagle River before, winning the Jr. III class in 2008.
He stressed that being a world championship, the competition never relents, regardless of the level.
“The competition was tough. It’s always been tough there,” Boivin explained. “Every year, it’s tough.
“It’s a world championship, so it’s hard,” he reasoned.
Boivin said he had to go through one heat in each event to reach the finals—finishing first in his first heat and second in the second one.
“In both races, I got out in the lead,” the teen recalled. “I had a guy telling me with some sticks how far ahead I was, and I kind of slowed down.
“I was takin’ ’er easy,” he noted. “I had the lead big time. I was way ahead.
“I slowed down quite a bit, too, because I didn’t want to hurt myself or the sled,” he added.
Boivin said he isn’t able to practice between events, but does get some warm-up time before each of the competitions.
“I don’t really practice,” he remarked. “We usually get hot laps at the races when we go. We usually get to test before racing starts.
“We would test, but we don’t really have any track or anything to plow the snow off the ice with,” he explained.
Boivin has little time to savour the victory, however, as he’s competing this weekend in Big Lake, Mn.
