Some successes come overnight. Others come after decades of dedication, hard work and perseverance. Ever present among the names of Harry Goatcher, Victor Sheldon, Nicolas Rius and Chris MacClugage has been Rob Flores. For the past 28 years, Flores has been in the fight, leg-dragging his way into jet ski history.
The Las Vegas, Nevada native jumped into the fray in 1988 aboard a Kawasaki JS440 before moving into Expert class and eventually Pro. Since those early days, Flores has represented many companies throughout his career, but two have remained more constant than others: Yamaha and Body Glove.
Rumors were flying by early December that Flores had been hand-picked by Yamaha’s own Scott Watkins to assist in the development of an all-new SuperJet hull. Because of the legality of introducing a new SuperJet hull, this would imply the impending release of a 4-stroke powered standup from Yamaha. This, of course is contrary to everything we’ve been told from Yamaha.
Addressing the new SuperJet rumors, The Watercraft Journal talked up Flores who diplomatically sidestepped the question: “I can’t speak for Yamaha. I’m […] developing hulls for my race program and to sell. Now if Yamaha ends up using what I come up with, that [remains] to be seen, but I am not contracted to do hulls strictly for them.”
The new redesigned SuperJet features a broader tray, elongated pump inlet duct and significantly improved strakes to the original hull design. Intended for competition in the 2015 Pro Watercross Tour, Flores debuted his new Raceski.com Yamaha SuperJet in an exclusive video for his longtime riding gear partner, Body Glove International. Joined with Judge Motorsports, MotoTec and Optima Racing, Flores is proud of his long career and looking forward to the 2015 season.