With a dramatic increase in participation in 2014 from its inaugural year in 2013, the P1 AquaX American series celebrated its success and participating racers with a gala awards ceremony evening at the Daytona Speedway. Among the fanfare and festivities, top flight awards were issued to the Top 3 podium finishers of each class – 300, 250 and 200, Ski and Rookie – as well as popular awards for Rider’s Choice and Race Team.
It would be Monster Kawasaki racer Eric Francis who walked away victorious this evening, not only nabbing the coveted 2014 AquaX World Championship in the 300 Class, but also winning the best Race Team award with teammates Jeff Thornton, Anya Colley and Enrique Chia. The Watercraft Journal caught up with Francis who beamed, “My first year of [racing the whole] AquaX series was great. I formed a team with three other riders and everything worked out very good for a rookie season as a team. The teamwork and all the skis went extremely well, but I would like to plan a little better for each event, as far as ski set up and conditions.”
Although focusing solely on Florida, the AquaX series does provide racers some variety. Francis continued, “My favorite race was Daytona; it’s such a beautiful place to race with usually great racing conditions.”
In regards to the AquaX series itself, Francis had much to celebrate, “AquaX is the first series I have ever raced that supports the racers and really makes every racer feel special and wanted. The rules are simple, and they actually following there rules. AquaX is also extremely professional, and they have an incredible safety crew of 10-plus firefighters on at least six jet skis at every single race. In my eyes they should be the mold for every race series, but that’s just me.
In welcoming new potential racers, Francis encouraged, “Come race the best series on the water with simple rules and classes and probably the most affordable series there is period! No need spending $10,000 (or more) after buying a ski just to race Stock class!”
Finally, Francis let us in on his plans for 2015: “I’m going to train very hard in the off season and drop some weight and get all my Kawasakis cleaned up and ready for battle next season.” With the help of his sponsors Kawasaki, Monster Energy, Farthing Racing, Mountain Motorsports, Quakeysense, Hydro-Turf, Fly Racing and Skat-Trak, Francis is looking to retain his title for yet another year.
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