It’s hard to argue with the scoreboard, and Yamaha sure likes to be at the top of the scoreboard. Even with surf breaking overhead, even with both Kawasaki and Sea-Doo touting 300-plus-horsepower, and even with a whole lot of people saying that Yamahas just aren’t cut out for offshore racing, this past weekend’s AquaX races in Daytona Beach, Florida effectively shut them right up.
The Watercraft Journal was the industry’s first to bring you a complete recap with a photo gallery and top finishers from Daytona’s heats, and as the scoreboard showed, Yamaha racers – including Aero Aswar, Brian Baldwin and 19-time world champion, Chris MacClugage – were all standing tall on the podium.
Here’s the original press release issued by Yamaha WaveRunners:
Daytona Beach, Fla. — Yamaha WaveRunner racers prevailed over rough surf and tough competition to finish 1-2-3 at the P1 AquaX pro opener held April 23-24 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Yamaha FX SVHO rider Chris MacClugage led the Yamaha contingent to finish first overall in the Pro Enduro class with FZR rider Aero Aswar and FX SVHO rider Brian Baldwin finishing 2-3 respectively.
Pro racing action was shortened Saturday when rough surf created hazardous conditions for the 25-plus pro riders navigating the tight P1 AquaX race course. The surf was so rough at times that the ride plate was shaken loose from several of the competing brands’ watercraft. As they say in racing, you can’t win if you can’t finish and that was especially true on Saturday.
On Sunday, the race course was lengthened and moved further offshore; making the course more manageable and top speeds much faster. By the end of Moto 3, the reliability and durability of the Yamaha FZR and FX SVHO proved too much for the competition, many of whom did not finish Moto 1 on Saturday, thus taking them out of the overall picture.
Congratulations to Dean’s Team, Broward Motorsports, Riva Motorsports and the family and friends that support Yamaha PWC racing. The next P1 AquaX race for the professional riders is July 2-3 in Sarasota, Fla.
