Seasoned Pro Crowned National Champ Twice
UWP/IJSBA National Tour wrapped up in beautiful downtown Charleston, West Virginia. An old name was added to a list of new champions. Rob “Flow” Flores, a veteran professional watercraft racer from Las Vegas, Nevada, earned the top podium spot in the highly prestigious Pro Ski GP class. Pro Ski GP is the top classification for stand up type watercraft in the USA tour. This title is considered the top possible honor for jetski purists. Flow also competed in the Ski Stock Class which saw him taking home the season win as well.
The UWP/IJSBA Tour stops at six of the nicest racing venues in the United States: Panama City, Florida; Syracuse, New York; Racine, Wisconsin; Lake Hartwell Georgia, and the finale in Charleston West Virginia. These locations each offer varying challenges to the racers such as brutal ocean surf, intense swells of the Great Lakes, river currents, and starts from different types of shore terrain. Furthermore, climate and altitude changes require severe tuning and impeller matching to get the watercraft to run at peak performance. This year’s tour defied the economy by showing increased turn out by participants and spectator counts that surprised even the most optimistic of event planners. Tour highlights included more than 100 spectator boats anchoring near the race course perimeter at Lake Hartwell and the Governor of West Virginia attending the Charleston event and socializing with the athletes.
Flores, motivated by the energy of an excellent tour production, Rob enjoyed one of the most remarkable seasons of his career. In the highly modified GP Class, Flow won four out of the six events on the tour. He won five out of six in the Stock Class. At every round Flores was on the podium in both classes- something that may be a record for this sport. In one notable demonstration of Flow’s skills, he lost a hood in Panama City and still led the entire race until water ingestion slowed his engine performance on the last lap- Flores still finished second with no hood!!
Rob Flores has a 23 year history as an athlete in personal watercraft competitions. He has long been regarded as the “man to beat” in Ski classes. In addition to his racing skills, Flow is also renowned for assembling some of the fastest watercraft on the circuit for other competitors. His company, RaceSki, develops parts and prepares watercraft that have put numerous persons in the winner’s circle. Flores acknowledges that much of his success comes from the support of his family, his girlfriend, Angela, his team mate, Sean Morris, Minouru Kanamori, and sponsors: Fly Racing, Hydroturf, Wiseco, Boober’s Blings and Walt’s Motorsports. He especially appreciates AJ Handler of Upstate Watercraft Promotions for putting on the top rated professional series that allows Flores and other competitors to hone their skills for the upcoming IJSBA World Championships in Lake Havasu City- held from October 3-10.
Upstate Watercraft Promotions is the leading national promoter of personal watercraft races. More information about Upstate and their events can be found at www.uwpinc.com. Handler is now preparing for the launch of the 2011 season. All events are sanctioned by the International Jet Sports Boating Association, the sport’s governing body since its inception. To learn more about PWC racing, please visit www.ijsba.com.
