Pensacola Round 1 of the HydroTurf ProWatercross Tour weekend recap.
Round one of the HydroTurf ProWatercross Tour is history and what a weekend it was.Rough waters added an additional challenge for the racers and would play apart in some upsets this weekend. Aero Aswar of Dean’s Team on board his Yamaha SVHO had a stellar weekend taking the overall win in Pro Runabout Open and Pro-Am Runabout Stock. Last year’s top two racers, Eric Francis and Troy Snyder, seemed to have their work cut out for them this weekend with an overall finish 5th and 8th respectively. “I had a pretty hard start for this year but it is a long season and all this will do is make me push much harder in the next round.” Said Francis, “I am just going to go to Panama and reel them in and see if I can get the point lead down.” When asked who he felt was his biggest competition coming off the first round Francis answered, “By far Aero and Baldwin, without a doubt these two will be my hardest competitors this season. They are both very strong. Aero is more controlled then Baldwin but as we all know Baldwin does very well. By far these are the two to beat and I believe this year will be hardest year for me to defend my title.One person who had a great weekend was Dustin Motzouris (Motz). Motz recently moved to Arizona from his home in South Africa to team up with Kommander Industries. Out of the gate Motz has shown that he is bringing the heat to the Hydroturf ProWatercross Tour. “The race went really well for me today, two advantages for me was a well prepared ski and experience. Kommander did an awesome job getting my ski dialed in 100 percent. You can't be racing in those conditions doubting your equipment. Also, experience was a huge advantage. I am lucky I have a good history of racing against the world’s best racers in the toughest conditions.” Motz went on to say, “I had a lot of fun out there while a lot of riders had a hard time. We need to race more often in these types of conditions to help future champions get the skills needed to win major championships.”We asked what kind of strategy he had going into this first round; “My strategy for the day was just getting good starts and getting away from the craziness on the track due to the rough conditions.” answered Motz. The Pro Freestylers put on an impressive show as usual. Daniel Martin took the overall win with Jace Forest and Jason Stoyer on the third place podium resulting in a clean sweep for the Xscream Team.Glen Jung started his season off right with an overall win in both the Sport Spec and Sport GP class. Knowing Glen he will fight hard to maintain these results all season long.All in all it was a great start to the season. Most of the racers are staying in Florida for next weekend’s round in Panama, which happens to be a racer favorite venue. As usual, Prorider will be there bringing you daily updates and images over the weekend with a full recap and exclusive images printed in the magazine.[fblike]
OVERALL RESULTS
PRO RUNABOUT OPENFINISH # BRAND NAME1 19 YAM Aero Aswar2 4 SEA Erminio Iantosca3 502 YAM Brian Baldwin4 361 SEA Eric Lagopoulos5 72 SEA Jared Moore6 243 YAM Dennia Mack7 21 SEA Trey Frame8 114 SEA Claude Clayton9 77 SEA Jason RussoPRO-AM SKI GP1 ZA1 KAW Dustin Motzouris2 83 KAW Kody Copenhaver3 88 KAW Rob Flores4 106 OTR Bill Haig5 300 OTR Jimmy Wilson6 50 YAM Paul Puchalski7 182b OTR Broc Harris8 912 KAW Rick Sherker9 94 YAM Josh Block10 21C OTR Dave Davidson11 75 KAW Kirk Britto12 149 KAW Pete Zernik13 72 KAW Johnny Smith14 85 OTR Jules Hopkins15 913 KAW Jordon Carroll16 13 HS David Cabrera17 182W OTR Cody MaccallumPRO-AM RUNABOUT STOCK1 19 YAM Aero Aswar2 502 YAM Brian Baldwin3 22 SEA Blaine Spooner4 361 SEA Eric Lagopoulos5 911 KAW Eric Francis6 72 SEA Shante Bukes7 243 YAM Dennis Mack8 2 YAM Troy Snyder9 4 YAM Brent Venderley10 44 YAM Mike BellamyPRO-AM RUNABOUT LIMITED1 17 SEA Aqsa Aswar2 243 YAM Dennis Mack3 21 YAM Cameron Frame4 361 SEA Eric Lagopoulos5 1 YAM Robert Greenwald6 77 SEA Jason Russo7 44 YAM Mike BellamyPro-AM SKI LITES1 144 KAW Kody Copenhaver2 912 KAW Rick Sherker3 50 YAM Paul Puchalski4 21 KAW Dave Davidson5 88 KAW Rob Flores6 13 HS David Cabrera7 182 KAW Benjie BinfordPRO FREESTYLE1 OTR Daniel Martin2 UNK Jace Forest3 UNK Jason StoyerRUNABOUT N/A SPEC1 1 YAM Rob Greenwald2 201 YAM Jason Maxson3 84 YAM Clay BarbeeAMATEUR SKI LITES1 0 KAW Callaway Turner2 127 YAM Jimmy Strickland3 360 KAW George Kelly4 624 KAW Greg Lahey5 85 YAM Dustin Higdon6 894 KAW Braden Bishop7 144 KAW Austin Carmouche8 191 KAW Khoi Le
9 211 KAW Trey SoutherlandAMATEUR SKI LIMITED1 55 KAW Angela Vacchino2 177 KAW Bibi Carmouche3 144 KAW Austin Carmouche4 13 KAW Paul JordanDNS 69 KAW Rob WiedwmannAMATEUR SKI OPEN1 149 KAW Pete Zurnik2 177 KAW Bibi Carmouche3 999 KAW Anna GlennonWOMENS SKI LIMITED1 55 KAW Angela Vacchino2 177 KAW Bibi CarmoucheVETERAN SKI GP1 3 YAM Ralph McGregor2 253 KAW Erin Mcconkey3 211 KAW Trey SoutherlandAMATEUR RUNABOUT STOCK1 22 SEA Blaine Spooner2 161 YAM Eric Dabek3 111 SEA John Ashe4 999 SEA Travis Zielasko5 8 SEA Jeff Dyckowski6 44 YAM Blake Bellamy7 247 SEA Dylan OsbornAMATEUR RUNABOUT REC LITES1 114 SEA Claude ClaytonNOVICE RUNABOUT LIMITED1 999 SEA Travis Zielasko2 111 SEA John Ashe3 361 SEA Kevin SullivanVETERANS RUNABOUT LTD1 8 SEA Jeff Dyckowski2 157 YAM Kevin Kennedy3 84 YAM Clay BarbeeSPORT SPEC1 77 YAM Glen Jung2 20 SEA Jason Maxson3 9 YAM Ken Waddle4 69 YAM Ray Quintana5 910 ZEB Jeff Mcphail6 110 SEA David Gorie7 1 YAM Sam Nehme8 111 SEA Richard Taylor9 828 SEA Gary Patterson10 114 SEA Susan Anderson11 223 YAM Donald BishopSPORT GP1 77 KAW Glen Jung2 114 UNK Mike Lopez3 9 YAM Sam Nehme4 22 YAM Chris Poole5 85 SEA Gary Hopkins6 5 SEA Kelly Smith7 910 ZEB Jeff Mcphail8 111 SEA Richard Taylor9 316 SEA Brian O’RourkeDNS 828 SEA Gary PattersonWOMENS RUNABOUT STOCK1 72 SEA Shante BukesJUNIOR SKI LITES 10-12 YR1 888 KAW Jessie GlennonJUNIOR SKI LITES 13-15 YR1 C13 KAW Max King
Rough waters added an additional challenge for the racers and would play apart in some upsets this weekend. Aero Aswar of Dean’s Team on board his Yamaha SVHO had a stellar weekend taking the overall win in Pro Runabout Open and Pro-Am Runabout Stock. Last year’s top two racers, Eric Francis and Troy Snyder, seemed to have their work cut out for them this weekend with an overall finish 5th and 8th respectively.
“I had a pretty hard start for this year but it is a long season and all this will do is make me push much harder in the next round.” Said Francis, “I am just going to go to Panama and reel them in and see if I can get the point lead down.” When asked who he felt was his biggest competition coming off the first round Francis answered, “By far Aero and Baldwin, without a doubt these two will be my hardest competitors this season. They are both very strong. Aero is more controlled then Baldwin but as we all know Baldwin does very well. By far these are the two to beat and I believe this year will be hardest year for me to defend my title.
One person who had a great weekend was Dustin Motzouris (Motz). Motz recently moved to Arizona from his home in South Africa to team up with Kommander Industries. Out of the gate Motz has shown that he is bringing the heat to the Hydroturf ProWatercross Tour. “The race went really well for me today, two advantages for me was a well prepared ski and experience. Kommander did an awesome job getting my ski dialed in 100 percent. You can't be racing in those conditions doubting your equipment. Also, experience was a huge advantage. I am lucky I have a good history of racing against the world’s best racers in the toughest conditions.” Motz went on to say, “I had a lot of fun out there while a lot of riders had a hard time. We need to race more often in these types of conditions to help future champions get the skills needed to win major championships.”We asked what kind of strategy he had going into this first round; “My strategy for the day was just getting good starts and getting away from the craziness on the track due to the rough conditions.” answered Motz. 
The Pro Freestylers put on an impressive show as usual. Daniel Martin took the overall win with Jace Forest and Jason Stoyer on the third place podium resulting in a clean sweep for the Xscream Team. 
Glen Jung started his season off right with an overall win in both the Sport Spec and Sport GP class. Knowing Glen he will fight hard to maintain these results all season long.All in all it was a great start to the season. Most of the racers are staying in Florida for next weekend’s round in Panama, which happens to be a racer favorite venue. As usual, Prorider will be there bringing you daily updates and images over the weekend with a full recap and exclusive images printed in the magazine.[fblike]
