The SBT P1 AquaX LakeFest Grand Prix will include three Am Enduro races and the overall Amateur winner from the two regional rounds in Michigan City earlier this month and LaPorte this weekend will qualify for the P1 AquaX Bahamas World Championship at Atlantis Paradise Island.

Going into the Stone Lake showdown, contenders for the trip to Nassau in early November include young Jay Finlinson, (#55) seasoned racer Errol Lange and experienced Yamaha rider Matthew Smith. The World Championship will feature a total of forty endurance riders, both professional and amateur, who primarily qualify through performances in the USA national race series.

P1 USA Championship Manager Michelle Petro told PRW.

LaPorte is a city rich in history, having been settled by European Americans almost two centuries ago. We are delighted to again be part of the LakeFest celebrations. AquaX racing will start at 10.00am on both days and spectators will be able to get a magnificent view of all the action from Stone Lake Beach on the eastern shore of the lake.

The P1 AquaX USA National Championship returns to Florida’s Atlantic Coast next month with Daytona Beach welcoming the AquaX racers, and the final stop in early September will be St. Petersburg on the Sunshine State’s Gulf Coast.

For more information on LakeFest visit www.laportelakefest.com

All images by Ronnymac.com

The P1 AquaX Cayman Islands National Tour 2022 will feature P1 AquaX Pro and Am Endurance classes with events at South Sound Beach at the southwestern tip of the island and Seven Mile Beach (see below) just north of George Town. The new partnership with P1 AquaX will enable one Pro rider and one Am rider from the tour to qualify for the P1 AquaX  World Championship taking place in the Bahamas this November.

CIWA President Chris Bodden said.

This new partnership is extremely exciting and is a significant achievement for motorsports in the Cayman Islands. We began discussions with P1 AquaX in 2019 but unfortunately Covid put everything on pause. That’s why we’re so delighted to be unveiling plans for this year’s National Tour in partnership with them. We have a superb season lined up at our two venues and we know that personal watercraft racing has a bright future in Cayman

South Sound, (see below) the home of pwc racing in the Cayman Islands, with a designated watersports zone within the reef, will host two National Tour events.

It’s an ideal venue for pwc racing with a beautiful beach and boardwalk that is easily accessible to spectators. Our Tour sponsors are extremely important and include the Cayman Islands Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage.

Powerboat P1’s CEO Azam Rangoonwala commented.

Strategic partnerships are at the heart of our business and when we launched AquaX more than a decade ago the aim was to appeal to recreational riders and attract new racers by making the racing affordable and east to enter. We are delighted that the Cayman Islands will become part of our international schedule and we look forward to welcoming two riders from the National Tour to our World Championship at the Atlantis later this year. We very much hope that this is just the start of our new relationship with CIWA.

As many as thirty riders are expected to compete in the National Tour, including the defending Pro and Am champions.

Yamaha GP1800R rider Matthew Panton (25) will face tough competition in the Pro class with former national champions returning to racing.

The reigning Am champion Tyler Watler on his Yamaha FX SVHO will need to demonstrate the determination and consistency that brought him success last year.

When asked what happened to reignite his fire, Eric replied

After coming off a year of not racing when Covid hit, I was not up to par mentally or physically last year and it took 2021 to get my head back in the game and back in racing mode.

Young Tory Snyder performed consistently over the two days to take second place ahead of Brian Baldwin (502).

Proving that age is only a number as he celebrated his fifty-ninth birthday, Enrique Chia was victorious in the Amateur 300 class. Joe Johnson (91) suffered some mechanical issues but finished high enough in his first two races to finish second, followed by Todd Czarcinski.

Sam Nehme dominated the Am 200 racing on both days. Isiah Washington (12) was able to fend off Melvin Canals to finish in second place.

The Jr Enduro class made its debut on East Lake Toho with Colombian rider Mariana Perdomo (495) finishing on top of the podium. She was unable to catch Gavin Russo in the opening race but came back in style by winning the next two races. Aged fourteen-fifteen, the riders competed for twenty minutes in each race on a modified AquaX course.

The five-venue national championship will now move on to Sarasota in early July.

The SBT P1 AquaX Kissimmee/St. Cloud Grand Prix, featuring Pro and Am Enduro action together with a new Jr Enduro class, will see East Lake Tohopekaliga welcome riders from nine countries to compete in the P1 AquaX USA National Championship.

Reigning Pro Enduro Champion Erminio Iantosca from Naples on Florida’s Gulf Coast was involved in a dramatic season finale in St. Pete over the Labor Day weekend last year and will again face a fierce challenge from leading US riders as well as experienced racers from Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean.

Flying the flag for Canada will be Paul Green and Dave Davidson, with flying Frenchman Thomas Favolini (287) announcing that he will be competing in all rounds of this year’s championship. Vanjae Ramgeet from the Cayman Islands finished fourth in the P1 AquaX World Championship in The Bahamas in November 2019 and he will be seeking to qualify for this year’s event which will again be staged at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island. With thirty riders competing in this class, it’s sure to produce some dramatic action.

Nineteen-year-old Tory Snyder, who won Pro Rookie in last season’s AquaX series and tied for second place overall will be a major contender for this year’s national title. He has just returned from winning the Jet Around Cayman endurance race where he picked up a cheque for $15,000. The only international rider in the field, Snyder said after the race

I want to make sure my name is at the top and this is the first step because it’s one of the biggest endurance races of the year.

In the Am Enduro 300 class, Domenico Barilla (714) will be looking to again finish in the top three and the reigning AM 200 champion Frankie Mojica from Puerto Rico will be looking to make a mark as he moves up to take on the three hundred riders. Mariana Perdomo is travelling from Columbia to race in the new Jr Enduro class where she will have to take on Gavin Russo.

Speaking from St. Cloud, P1 USA Championship Manager Michelle Petro commented

This year’s championship is going to be immensely competitive, and we may well experience another nail-biting finish at the end of five months. We’re expecting flat conditions on the lake this weekend so the racing should be fast and furious. This will be the ninth time we’ve staged AquaX racing here, and we regard this event as our hometown race with it being close to our Orlando headquarters. We are introducing a new Junior class to the national championship for riders aged 14-15 and I’m looking forward to seeing this class grow across the season.