Last weekend welcomed personal watercraft racers from around the world to Lake Havasu City, Arizona for the 40th annual IJSBA World Finals – and with it a whole slew of championships for Yamaha Motor Corp., continuing its trend of being the preferred runabout by more professional athletes – including several first-time wins for the all-new 4-stroke Yamaha SuperJet!
Big wins came in the Pro/Am Runabout Stock class – known as the Manufacturer’s Class, as it is the closest to box-stock as a runabout class can be – where Yamaha racers swept the podium. A second sweep came in the Pro/Am Runabout 1100 Open and Women’s Runabout 11 Stock classes. Junior racers shined on their 4-stroke SuperJets in the Junior 13-15 and 10-12 Four-Stroke Lites classes as well.
You’ll want to read the complete release attached below for all of the racers’ names, as well as tune into The Watercraft Journal for our complete recap and photo gallery of the IJSBA World Finals coming soon!
Here’s the original release:
Yamaha pro watercraft racers riding the Yamaha GP1800R SVHO and FX SVHO dominated the premier Pro/Am Runabout Stock class and more at the 40th IJSBA World Finals held annually at Lake Havasu, Arizona.
Never before in IJSBA World Finals history has one manufacturer dominated Pro/Am Runabout Stock racing in the way Yamaha has the past several years. Also, referred to as the Manufacturer’s Class, these watercraft are the best representation of out-of-the-box performance consumers can expect.
Winning the World title in Pro/Am Runabout Stock is Tory Snyder on his Yamaha FX SVHO. Yamaha GP1800R rider Rasheed Aldawas finished second, and Ermino Iantosca aboard a Yamaha FX SVHO completed the podium sweep.
“For several years now, Yamaha WaveRunners have set the benchmark for true out-of-the-box performance, reliability, and durability on the professional racing circuit,” said Bryce Parker, Yamaha WaterCraft racing manager. “But to do that aboard four completely different platforms as we do is truly exciting and a testament to our engineering and design leadership across our entire lineup.”
In other IJSBA World Finals racing action, Cameron Frame rode his Yamaha EX to a World title in the Pro/Am Runabout 1100 Open class. Fellow Yamaha EX riders Book Sermsuwan and Valentina Lezcano finished 2-3 to complete the podium sweep.
Yamaha swept the Women’s Runabout 11 Stock class with Sophie Francis winning the World title on a Yamaha EX WaveRunners. Also on Yamaha EX’s were Valentina Lezcano and Renee Hill who finished 2-3 respectively.
Fifteen-year-old Reese Giese and 11-year-old Caris Webster made history, winning the first World titles for the four-stroke Yamaha SuperJet in the Junior 13-15 and 10-12 Four-Stroke Lites classes respectively.
And Troy Snyder won his seventh World title aboard a Yamaha FX SVHO in the Vets Runabout class.
Congratulations to the riders, their family members, the racing teams, and the sponsors that make the IJSBA World Finals the focal point on the international personal watercraft racing calendar.
