CFMOTO is taking the ZFORCE Z10 racing.
CFMOTO USA has partnered with VanEperen Racing to develop a ZFORCE Z10 for the Pro SxS class in AMSOIL Championship Off-Road, putting the company’s flagship turbocharged sport UTV into the hands of one of the most successful teams in short-course side-by-side racing.
The new CFMOTO Racing program was unveiled at CFMOTO’s annual dealer show in Minneapolis, where a purpose-built #1 ZFORCE Z10 Pro SxS race car was displayed alongside a nearly stock Z10 wearing matching VanEperen/CFMOTO Racing graphics.
The partnership brings both Owen and Rodney VanEperen into the CFMOTO program. Owen enters the project as the reigning 2025 Pro SxS and Pro Stock SxS champion, while Rodney is a former Pro Turbo SxS champion and longtime fixture in short-course UTV racing.
For CFMOTO, the move represents another significant step in establishing the ZFORCE Z10 as a serious performance UTV platform.
From Yamaha YXZ1000R to CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10
The timing of the VanEperen move to CFMOTO makes a lot of sense.
Owen VanEperen won both the 2025 Pro SxS and Pro Stock SxS championships aboard Yamaha YXZ1000Rs. UTVGuide.net covered that fitting conclusion to the platform’s factory racing run in Yamaha Sends Off the Legendary YXZ1000R With a Championship Finale.
VanEperen Racing had spent years developing and racing the YXZ platform, with both Owen and Rodney achieving considerable success.
But the championship arrived as Yamaha was winding down the machine itself. The YXZ1000R and YXZ1000R SS disappeared from Yamaha’s U.S. side-by-side lineup after the 2025 model year, ending a decade-long production run for one of the industry’s most distinctive sport UTVs. You can read more about the machine’s development and history in our Yamaha YXZ1000R model guide.
Yamaha subsequently announced an even broader change in its side-by-side strategy. The company will end in-house U.S. side-by-side production after the 2026 model year as part of a revised SxS strategy. UTVGuide.net’s report on that announcement notes that Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation in Newnan, Georgia, will stop manufacturing Yamaha side-by-sides after the 2026 model year. [oai_citation:1‡UTV Guide]
Yamaha to End U.S. Side-by-Side Production After 2026Yamaha will end in-house U.S. side-by-side production after the 2026 model year while continuing to develop SxS vehicles for the multi-purpose market. Future Yamaha side-by-sides will be manufactured outside Newnan, Georgia.
That context is important. VanEperen Racing wasn’t simply abandoning an active Yamaha YXZ1000R performance program for another manufacturer. The platform that carried the team to its 2025 championships had reached the end of production.
CFMOTO, meanwhile, had a relatively new turbocharged sport UTV platform it was looking to establish in the performance market.
The combination creates an interesting opportunity. CFMOTO gets an experienced development team and the reigning Pro SxS champion, while VanEperen Racing gets the opportunity to help develop another performance UTV into a Pro SxS contender.
CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Pro SxS race car from VanEperen Racing
A Very Different ZFORCE Z10
CFMOTO introduced the Z10 as its most serious entry yet into the high-performance sport UTV market. UTVGuide.net recently spent time behind the wheel of the machine, and our CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 review found a much more refined performance machine than earlier ZFORCE models. [oai_citation:2‡UTV Guide](https://utvguide.net/cfmoto-zforce-z10-review/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
The production Z10 uses a 998cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine producing 154 horsepower and 107 lb-ft of torque, paired with CFMOTO’s OmniDrive CVT.
The VanEperen Pro SxS car is another animal entirely.
At the dealer show, CFMOTO displayed a nearly stock #45 ZFORCE Z10 alongside the #1 race car. The #45 machine retains the production Z10’s recognizable chassis, cage and body configuration, dressed in matching CFMOTO Racing/VanEperen graphics with aftermarket wheels, tires and a few accessories.
Parked beside it, the purpose-built Pro SxS car illustrates just how far the production platform has been transformed for short-course competition.
The #1 machine features extensive chassis and suspension modifications, a full competition cage, window nets, race cockpit and the wide, low stance expected of a modern Pro SxS.
CFMOTO and VanEperen Racing have not yet released a detailed technical specification sheet for the race car, so we’re not going to speculate about horsepower, weight, suspension travel or how closely the race powertrain follows the production Z10.
CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Pro SxS race car from VanEperen Racing
CFMOTO Racing Partners
The dealer-show reveal also gave us a look at several companies involved with the new CFMOTO Racing effort.
Visible sponsors and partners include FOX, Maxxis, Simpson, Rugged Radios, T.A.P.P., Demon Powersports and Beyond Redline.
Victory Sign LLC, a longtime VanEperen Racing partner, handles the team’s graphics and visual branding. Its work is readily apparent across the program, with coordinated CFMOTO Racing graphics on the Pro SxS car, production Z10, UFORCE support vehicle and team transporter.
The presence of a sponsor logo doesn’t necessarily tell us which components are being used on the race car. Until VanEperen Racing or the individual suppliers release additional build information, we’ll avoid turning the sponsor list into an assumed parts list.
CFMOTO’s Championship Off-Road Push
The VanEperen partnership isn’t CFMOTO’s first move into Championship Off-Road.
CFMOTO became a series partner ahead of the 2026 season and is title sponsor of the season-ending CFMOTO Off-Road National at Glen Helen Raceway.
Putting the ZFORCE Z10 into Pro SxS competition takes that involvement to another level.
CFMOTO has grown rapidly in the U.S. side-by-side market, expanding from its value-oriented roots into increasingly sophisticated utility, recreational and performance machines. The 2027 CFMOTO ZFORCE lineup now stretches from 50-inch Trail models through the 950 Sport family and up to the turbocharged ZFORCE Z10 and four-seat Z10-4.
The Z10 is an important part of that transition. When CFMOTO officially launched the ZFORCE Z10 and Z10-4, the company moved into a much more serious part of the performance UTV market.
Going Pro SxS racing gives CFMOTO an opportunity to put that performance platform to a much tougher test.
You can follow our broader CFMOTO UTV coverage for additional ZFORCE, UFORCE and XFORCE news, reviews and model information.
CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Pro SxS race car from VanEperen Racing
Why VanEperen Racing Matters
Rodney and Owen VanEperen aren’t newcomers being brought in simply to put CFMOTO on the starting grid.
Rodney has decades of racing experience and won the 2021 Pro Turbo SxS championship. Owen progressed through short-course racing and developed into one of the sport’s top UTV drivers.
His 2025 season culminated with championships in both Pro SxS and Pro Stock SxS aboard the Yamaha YXZ1000R.
Rather than immediately returning to defend those championships in 2026, the VanEperens stepped back from full-time competition. In its 2026 season preview, AMSOIL Championship Off-Road specifically noted that Owen and Rodney VanEperen would not compete full time in Pro SxS, describing the class as entering the season with a shifting landscape following Owen’s championship-winning 2025 campaign. [oai_citation:4‡AMSOIL Championship Off-Road]
That announcement looks more significant in hindsight. With the YXZ1000R no longer in production and the VanEperens not committed to a full 2026 championship run, the team had an opportunity to focus on its next race platform.
We now know what at least part of that next chapter looks like: developing a new CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 Pro SxS program.
Owen VanEperen – 2026 Crandon
From Production Z10 to Race Development
The pairing could be particularly valuable for CFMOTO because the ZFORCE Z10 is still a relatively new performance platform.
The production Z10 already gives CFMOTO a 154-horsepower turbocharged entry in the high-performance sport UTV market. What the company hasn’t yet accumulated is the racing history and competition-development experience associated with machines such as the Polaris RZR, Can-Am Maverick and Yamaha YXZ1000R.
That won’t happen overnight.
But putting the Z10 into the hands of a team coming directly from championship-winning seasons with the YXZ is a serious start.
There is also an interesting symmetry to the transition.
When Yamaha introduced the original YXZ1000R, it was an unconventional newcomer to the pure-sport UTV market. Over the following decade, racing helped establish the YXZ’s performance credentials, with VanEperen Racing eventually helping take the platform to its championship-winning conclusion.
Now, with YXZ1000R production over, that same racing operation has an opportunity to help establish CFMOTO’s ZFORCE Z10 as a legitimate Pro SxS race platform.
Owen VanEperen – 2026 Crandon
What We Still Want to Know
The biggest unanswered questions are now technical.
CFMOTO hasn’t released detailed specifications for the Pro SxS Z10, including race horsepower, vehicle weight, suspension travel, chassis construction or the extent of the engine and drivetrain modifications.
We also want to know more about the roles individual technical partners played in developing the car and exactly what components are being used.
Most importantly, we want to see what happens when the new Z10 lines up against established Pro SxS machinery.
CFMOTO has already demonstrated that it intends to become a bigger player in the performance UTV market. Entering Pro SxS competition with VanEperen Racing gives the company an opportunity to prove that performance on the racetrack.
We’ll update this story as additional technical details and racing plans for the CFMOTO ZFORCE Z10 become available.
Owen VanEperen – 2026 Crandon
