Benoni’s jetski world champion
Benoni resident Jared Moore recently travelled to Lake Havasu City, in Arizona, in the USA, to compete in the 2013 IJSBA Jetski World Finals.
The world finals were held from October 7 to 13, and the South African team consisted of six riders, including Moore, all competing in different classes.
Moore competed in two classes over the week’s racing, in the GP Runabout Open class and the Pro Runabout Open class.
The Benoni Jetski rider managed to claim second place in Moto 1 of the GP Runabout Open class and, in Moto 2, he got off to a fantastic start and was in first position when a collision occurred between a rider from Japan and a rider from the USA, on lap two.
The race was stopped to allow the rescue crew to remove the injured rider from the water and the riders were called back to the start line for a restart.
Moore got off to a good start but was involved in a collision in the first turn, when a rider from Thailand hit a wave skew and crashed into him.
Luckily he managed to stay on his ski, but the Thai rider was not so lucky, as he fell off his Jetski and had to fight from the back of the field.
Following the collision, Moore came out in fourth position and managed to work his way up to second place in heat two.
This gave him second place overall, behind James Bushel, from the United Kingdom, in first.
The Pro Runabout Open class is considered the elite class in International Jetski Racing and many riders try to compete, as qualifying rounds are held before the racing even begins.
A total of 28 riders from 20 different countries try to qualify for this class, and only 16 riders qualify to compete.
Moore claimed second position in his qualifying heat and was ready to go to the start line.
In Moto 1 of the Pro Runabout Open class the Benoni resident got off to a bad start, and slotted into eighth position on lap one.
He consistently passed riders throughout the Moto and managed to claim fourth position behind Kasza Gyorgy from Hungary in first, Masaharu Takenoshita from Japan in second and Jean Baptiste Botti from France in third.
He had an amazing start in Moto 2 of the Pro Runabout Open Class, which helped him to claim second position from lap one.
He stayed in second place all the way to the finish line, behind Dustin Farthing, from the USA.
Moore was consistent throughout the two Motos which helped him to achieve first place overall, making him the 2013 Pro Runabout Open World Champion.
A Nations’ Trophy is awarded every year for the combined points of all the competing countries.
Thirty-three countries earned points throughout the Jet Ski World Finals and South Africa managed to claim sixth place, with 265 points.
Shante? Bukes, from Sasolburg, managed to claim seventh position in the Amateur Runabout Stock class, and first position in the Women’s Runabout class.
