The P1 AquaX crews made the short trek south on I-95 from their last location of Lake Worth to the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida this past weekend. The series has traveled all over the state of Florida this year and chose Fort Lauderdale as the venue for their final round of the season. This was the first time that P1 AquaX had come to this location and it wanted to end the season on a big note.
Riders and spectators from all over the world made the trek for this event making it truly an international race. With AquaX expanding to more and more venues outside of Great Britain and the United States there were riders from many different nations.
Starting off the weekend were the Junior racers. It’s always a pleasure watching these young riders battling it out against each other. The Sport class and then the Ski class followed the Juniors. Sam Nehme wanted to finish his season the same way he started it, as number one on the podium. Johnny Smith who had numerous engine issues last weekend in Lake Worth and was looking to rebound this round and give Sam a run for his money. The Ski class followed the Sport class and it was Franco Tobler who would lead the pack and come away with the win.
As the Ski class was wrapping up their first race of the weekend, the Amateur Runabout racers were throwing on their helmets and prepping their skis for entry into the water. Due to Amateurs racing all three classes together it had many racers who had made the trek from Great Britain for the chase of the International Cup. All eyes were on Great Britain’s Joseph Harvey and Chris Saxon from the United States as they were only separated by one point coming into the weekend. Tommy Olswang, who did not race in Lake Worth, wasn’t thinking of either of the other two riders. Tommy came in first for the first race of the weekend and threw a wrench in the plans of Saxon and Harvey.
Next up was the Pro racers and it was going to be an epic battle as Aero Aswar was holding the top spot for the season at 182 points and Chris MacClugage was in second, tied with Eric Francis with 167 points. It was known that these three riders were going to bring their “A” game. The racers did their customary parade laps in front of the fans and headed out to the start line. The green flag dropped and the race was on with MacClugage in the lead. After only two laps completed the red flag came out. It appeared that a sea turtle and a manatee had entered the course. As an avid supporter of the Marine Foundation, P1 stopped the race for the protection of the animals. This was how the first day ended due to the time constraint and the animals not leaving the racecourse. It was decided that racing would resume on Sunday at an earlier start.
Sunday arrived and would start off where the previous day ended with the Pro Enduro Race. With helicopter up in the air and no sign of wildlife, the green flag was dropped and it was MacClugage who came away with the hole shot and a hold on the lead for the entire race. Could a change of number one be coming? Even more so, could we see Eric Francis move up in the standings also? MacClugage would take the win and gain valuable points to get within grasp of Aswar for the overall points lead.
The Amateurs did their second race of the weekend once the Pros finished. Joseph Harvey had his eyes set on taking down some riders to gain some very important points. Chris Saxon was still trying to hold off Harvey and wanted to keep the cup in the good old USA. As the race progressed it was Tommy Olswang who once again came into the mix and would win the second heat of the weekend. Harvey was on a tear as he moved up during the race and would finish second. Chris Saxon would have issues that would knock him out for the rest of the weekend.
The Sport, Ski and Junior classes all completed their second race of the day. As the Pros were getting ready for their second race of the weekend an unexpected guest decided to show up on the racecourse and did not want to leave. A sea turtle again ventured onto the course and racing was postponed with hopes of a quick restart. Unfortunately, the turtle had other plans and the P1 staff started to have discussions on what would be done about the remaining races slated for the weekend as they were on a very tight schedule.
Finally, after a long wait, the Pros were able to continue racing with MacClugage once again winning, giving him another 20 points to add to his overall total. The title was getting away from Aero Aswar and had many wondering if he was still feeling the effects from his collision the previous week with Eric Francis. The third and final race for the Pros took place later in the day had Eric Francis take the win over MacClugage.
Your winners for the weekend were as follows: Sam Nehme (Sport Spec) USA; Harry Robinson (Ski) GB; Eric Gabryel (Spark) USA; Joseph Harvey (Amateur 300 Class) GB; Jason Lester (Amateur 250 Class) USA; Jennifer Nolan (Amateur 200 Class) USA; Chris MacClugage (Professional) USA
As the season has come to an end it gives us time to reflect and come to this conclusion: P1 AquaX has grown tremendously since its very first season and has brought some of the best racers not only from the United States but also from all around the globe to race. The sky is the limit and we look forward to next season to see what the organization will bring. ‘Till next year!
