Clear Lake, MN (March 14, 2022) – Elias Ishoel and Marcus Ogemar teamed up to win their respective Pro and Pro Lite finals at round 11 of the ISOC national snocross tour, making it a first-ever team sweep of the premier divisions for Thene Motorsports.
On Friday, Elias qualified 2-2 in his Pro class heat races. In the main event, he started out in fourth place before quickly making his way into third behind a hotly contested battle for the lead. By lap 9, Ishoel had closed a two second gap to the leaders and made a two for one pass to the front. Once in the lead, Ishoel checked out for his sixth win of the season.
The big course at ERX Motor Park featured mountains of man-made snow but still required patience when making passes. “I was trying to find a good line,” said Ishoel. “I just knew it was going to be better and better in that inside line, so I kept doing it and making up time.”
On Saturday, Ishoel was challenging for a top three spot on the third lap of the final when he was knocked off his machine. Although he was uninjured, the tall berm and deep snow made it a challenge to get his Ski-Doo race sled uprighted before he could continue at the very back of the pack. Elias did work his way up to eighth place at the checkers, scoring valuable points. He continues to lead the Pro Championship by 28 with four rounds to go.
Marcus Ogemar scored his best finish of the season with the Pro Lite win on Friday. It was a rewarding victory for the young Swede who has worked his way to becoming a weekly contender after getting a late call to come and race with the team just prior to the start of the season. It was also his first win since racing full time with the ISOC tour in 2018-19.
On Saturday, Ogemar had to transfer through the Last Chance Qualifier after finishing 1-7 in his heat races. Starting from the back row, Marcus made a strong run through the pack, earning a fifth place finish to cap another strong points weekend. He is currently only 10 points back of third place and 17 out of second.
Andy Pake made his return to the team after sitting out the first 10 rounds with a broken collar bone. It was an impressive comeback for Pake who had a pair of top 10s, including a fifth on Friday, despite not having a lot of time on his sled prior to the weekend.