As The Watercraft Journal mentioned earlier this week in our article on Farthing Racing’s ongoing partnership with Yamaha, the 2025 race season is already shaping up to be a game changer, with continued efforts from the top tours this year, as well as a number of new endeavors.
Today, we’re focusing on one of those new opportunities as we talk with long-time PWC racer and sport supporter, John Block.
Block, along with Brad Hill, will be kicking off a new format of watercraft racing in 2025 with the inaugural season of PWC Sprint Racing.
Sanctioned by American Jet Sport Association, or AJSA, PWC Sprint Racing can run in conjunction with AJSA events, or as a stand-alone event, and Block and Hill are working now to formulate the schedule and locations for the 2025 Season.
Before we get that far though, WCJ wanted to know a bit more about this new race effort, so we sat down with Block to talk about the format, the rules, the opportunities and challenges in creating a new avenue for an old sport.
Block broke down the organization and fundamentals behind the PWC Sprint Racing concept, saying the first race of the inaugural season will most likely be held before the Guntersville Alabama AJSA Race, and stressed that the small size of the track will play a large part in how the season is arranged.
He spoke about the influence of sprint racing in many of the decisions that went into creating this new format of racing, and stressed the importance he places on keeping the racing close to the fans.
Block talked about the race format, from hot laps to to inverted qualifying line positions to the final race
An important aspect of this new format, for Block, is increased safety for the racers, without taking away from the competitiveness and excitement.
He talked about the layout of the race track for the series, explaining that the basic layout of the racecourse will not change, meaning that racers can memorize the course, and meaning that racers can set up a practice course that will always approximate the actual race course.
The PWC Sprint Racing Facebook page includes a sample qualifying diagram, and Block walked me through how a typical race day would go.
We next talked about what classes would be involved in this series, and Block said runabouts were not suited for the format, but detailed what classes were being included.
He said he hoped this new format helps grow a fan base for the sport.
WCJ asked Block if this style of racing emphasized racer skill, or premium machines.
Block said that the PWC Sprint Racing Facebook page contains a wealth of information on the new race series, such as a rundown of rules, a review of the race format and classes, and diagrams of the racetrack and the sample qualifying diagram.
The Watercraft Journal will continue to follow the buildup to the opening of the season for this new series, and will bring our readers more information as it becomes available.
