A little over a week ago, we had MVP Productions’ Manuel Valdes provide us a glimpse into the world of private one-on-one PWC drag racing. The world isn’t too far removed from that of illegal street racing, and is far bigger than many would suspect. The speeds are equal to that seen at sanctioned events, and the stakes are often much, much higher. Valdez not only provided The Watercraft Journal some amazing insight to the race scene, but followed up earlier this week with a video recapping the final race of the season:
“The day turned out a lot of excitement as all the fans and spectators were waiting for an epic race from three of the most well-known watercraft shops here in south Florida: UJet, CRT, Chichi’s Performance.
“OrangeBoost (the orange FZR) decided to be one of the first one on the water hoping someone would make the move and race his supercharged Yamaha with a top speed of 87.7mph, but no one was up for that challenge. Others were warming up the canal waiting for a race but didn’t have any luck.
Above left: Word of the showdown spread quickly and garnered a substantial crowd for being an unsanctioned event. Above right: To the winner goes the spoils, and that came today in the form of $17,000 – yes, that seventeen thousand dollars for a single jet ski race. That’s drag racing.
“The fans were hoping to witness what could be the best race of the year when all the sudden Carlitos from CRT (Champion of the 2011 Hydrodrags World Finals) decided not to wait any longer for Chichi’s Performance’s FZR and took Uva from UJet’s pending challenge.
“Uva, with his yellow-and-blue turbo FZR – equipped with nitrous, custom exhaust, intake and steering – and Carlitos with his Sea-Doo ’12 RXP-X turbo – also running nitrous, with a top speed of 104mph with a custom turbo kit made by CRT, AEM electronics, MWS wire harness by Karel Tuning – decided to race at the last minute putting everyone on their feet.
“Immediately, the pier was crawling with people. Uva and Carlitos, owners of two of the most known performance shops in Miami went head-to-head with a clean start. Carlitos RXP-X jumped ahead at the start and just in matter of seconds, Uva took the lead by far with the win and a record of ‘The Fastest Turbo FZR in The World’ with a top speed of 109mph.”
I’m from Malta EU. south of Italy. I love water sports events. I own a 1996 Speedster 17 feet with 2 engines
110 hp each, Bombardier Rotex. I service it my self & keep it in mint condition. It is the only one with 2 engines of its type in Malta. I’m really fond of it, for it really gives me pleasure all year round. Thanks for asking me to join, apart for events, even for spares. Hope to keep in touch with me!
Regards.
Ing. John R. Falzon. hope to