The highly competitive world of PWC drag racing has taken a page from “The Fast & The Furious” with the level of underground, winner-takes-all racing happening in private and municipal waterways around South Florida. One such high stakes drag race took place within the past week, and MVP Productions’ Manuel Valdes was able to not only provide The Watercraft Journal some insight to the race, but video to boot:
“The race began by a call out from Joaquin Lara, the owner of a blue turbocharged FZR from JV Performance calling out Darian Rodriguez, owner of a white #99 FZR (equipped with a supercharger) from UJET team. Joaquin didn’t know the #99 was supercharged and still Rodriguez didn’t back out of the offer of racing a turbo FZR, even though Lara told him he was pushing close to 100mph.
“The race took place in a canal near Broward County, FL. The bet was set at $1,400, winner takes it all. The driver of the white FZR was Mike Valdes, winner of the Super Stock class at this past Hydrodrags World Finals. Lara decided to experience the rush by being behind the controls of his turbo FZR on his very first race.
“The white FZR is supercharged, and uses a RIVA/Vi-Pec and is fed on E85. Rodriguez wished to keep the speed a secret until the next Hydrodrags where he will reveal it in a speed alley pass. The blue turbo FZR also uses a RIVA/Vi-Pec ECU and also is running on E85, with the owner claiming it to be close to 100 mph. It’s built by JV Performance and tuned by Albert Turbo.”
As the video shows, Lara’s blue FZR can’t keep hooked, with Valdes driving the white #99 FZR to a win with every pass. In fact, after three passes, Valdes looked noticeably frustrated with Lara, waving him on and looking to give him the starting nod. Regardless, the supercharged Yamaha pulls far ahead of the turbo machine all three times.
“The white #99 was put together by UVA, who owns a shop called UJET and owns the world’s fastest turbocharged FZR (seen in blue and yellow with a custom bracket for a nitrous bottle on the side) with a top speed of 109mph and counting. The white FZR is custom built to match the looks of the blue-and-yellow FZR but still run a supercharger, built with the help of one of the best tuners, Brian Kirchberger, also with the help of Ernesto Calas, Mandy’s Performance and Daylon Rodriguez.”
All images, video and information provided Manuel Valdes of MVP Productions.
