You want to know what it’s all about? Get yourself on a stand-up and an RXPX! That’s exactly what Liquid Militia Team Rider Chris MacClugage did at the UWP National tour event in Panama City, Florida this weekend. May 19-20 was the 1st round opener which proved prophetic as Chris MaClugage slammed home another layer of legacy position to his pedigree. What is it like to be ‘MacClugaged’ you ask? Aggressive, direct and focused passing, that’s what you can expect. So get ready! If you want to become the best, you have to run with the best. Be tested against the measure of your skill so you know where that next benchmark lies. Here’s how one champion approaches that goal?
Chris MacClugage Panama Beach Runabout Stock Class Photo By: Pro Rider Magazine
Monster Macc Racing RIVA SEA DOO RXPX TEAM UPDATE ROUND ONE
Pro Champion Racer – Chris MacClugage #30
RACE READY – IT’S A DESTINATION
We left on Havasu, Arizona Sunday night driving halfway across the country and stayed over at Flyin’ Brian’s House one night. Upon waking; trained, it’s all about preparation. Racing is the easy part; preparation is the big push of dedication.Then off again on Tuesday morning we headed out. Arrived Wednesday at 1am in Florida, rose early. Tested again at a local boat ramp. My goal was to get there early on Wednesday to test because we needed to update to the local conditions from our home base of dry desert to humid Florida for their optimal race conditions.
MoTeC captured some files for our pre-race checks, and from there they flew through the iPhone to Australia. We tuned and the weather matched us perfectly. We were able to get the boats up and finalize our testing; you see preparation is the cornerstone to winning. Rachel, Mac, Christophe and family came in Wednesday evening; we picked them up and settled down for the night. Thursday morning we pulled the stand-up out of the trailer, tested it, and it ran flawlessly.
Friday we brought it out to the race site with the RXPX’s, tested once again, everything fired up perfect.From there, it was waiting for race game. Conditions were beautiful, white sandy beaches, emerald colored water, nice hotel, fun times, and good celebrations with our families. Lots of sting rays visible through the clear waters, a beautiful place. If I had a business in that area, that is where I would live, a beautiful part of the USA, nice town, the people are nice; the Boardwalk Resort is a great destination place. It’s nice to compete in locations that offer you more than a track for the family. Saturday morning wore, up, practiced again, boats were in stellar form. My thoughts were on my training regime. I haven’t been on a competitive standup since world finals on a race track. We had some time in Parker and good testing was set for handling and what I like on my boats, stand up and RXPX. I hadn’t much time if any on the stand up for water practice.
Chris repping new Liquid Militia Tank in Panama.
ONE-ONE-ONE SNAP!
PRO-AM RUNABOUT STOCK: I raced the new 2012 RXPX SEA DOO. I didn’t whole shot the first race on the RXPX; I ended up starting up in second place off the line. Ermino was in front of me in the runabout start, I passed him about the sixth lap. The RXPX is just so way faster than I could have hoped for….second Moto and third Moto, repeat performances. I didn’t want to jump the start, so I held back slightly to see how the RXPX package would handle on the track conditions, once performing at peak I let the RXPX run away. Three different runs and each one the RXPX was a focused assault. I watched the lines on the water, hitting the buoys perfect, and still able to pull away. But I was riding conservatively, not beating the boat up…literally dancing with the RXPX at wide open throttle. I’m satisfied with the RXPX.
We proved the point that we can make an SEA DOO work very well. Comparison: nobody was close, speed; handling and performance, considering a lot of the competition are seasoned and winning veterans. I can contribute a lot of this to Pete at MoTeC because he’s put time into the tune on the RXPX. Daniel my mechanic at Macc Racing and Skat Trak with the impellers, everything pulled together for the repeated wins, thank you.
ONE-ONE-TWO
PRO-AM SKI GP: My first major outing on the ski, I can’t do any better! With the MoTeC support I could travel to the race destination, turn the hotspot on, go wireless, go into the race trailer, hook up to my race ski, spin it out on team share and we were plugged in. Pete was manipulating my boat’s ECU from Australia, it’s the whole beauty of having a sponsor and the support from MoTeC with solutions completed in minutes. Any other ignition will not produce these kind of on demand results. This helps our Monster Macc Racing RIVA SEA DOO RXPX team out so much. RIVA supplies all the parts along with Macc Racing equipped parts on our boats, it’s a winning combination. The race track was flat, offering good solid speed positions. My style is more rough water. What we had come race time was calm water, north winds to the south, which flattened it out, creating beautiful water.
Chris MacClugage Panama Race 1st Place Pro Ski GP Photo By: Pro Rider Magazine
The track was basic, no split, and with no split you have to work harder to pass racers on the track. All my passes were on the outside edges. Each pass I stroked was outside turns. It was a right handed track, a bit of chop on the outside was creating friction and I would strike in that zone when others would slow down. It was less technical, but a good track nonetheless with the resources available. Pristine conditions existed, making the mood light and positive. Good combinations prevailed. Stand up was built by TECH 1 Racing by Christophe. He’s worked with good European riders, and has a great industry background, but most importantly he enjoys what he does. He’s building great boats for me and put together a great package. I enjoy or collaboration, he works good under pressure, tunes things to rider spec’s and builds them to win.
Testing in Florida we decided to work on handling stages for design and dial it to my likes. My practice starts proved good, so we put it back in the trailer ‘race ready’. Saturday I was wondering how I would come out not training on the stand up as I would have liked. I was physically in good shape, just not using those muscles groups in a while that a stand up demands. Derek Powell holeshotted a good run to the first buoy. Then I got a wide open right hander into a double left turn and I came up on the left side, passed hard on the left, pinned down the throttle and walked ahead by about a half lap. I felt good, like I had improved with that much time off and not being on the boat, I was a bit amazed with myself. I felt real good.
Chris MacClugage Pro Ski GP Class Band Snap Photo By: Pro Rider Magazine
Second Moto I got a bad start off the line, but pulled everyone off the first turn. It went well.Third Moto a jumped start, we were called back to the line. Second start, another jump. Called back again. Third start, this was bad, I settled into third, behind Jimmy Wilson. I took about 3 laps to pass him on the back sweeper. I kept it on and hooked up, caught up to Rob Flores, I was starting to feel the burn, running two classes in the weather, I was shifting down a bit . I made an attempt to pass Flores on the inside; I just didn’t have a great line so I backed off. I decided I had the win, why throw it away? I want to win the war, I didn’t’ care about winning the last battle. I could have pissed it all away, so I chose the right path. End of that story. Mentally knowing how much effort I can turn it up on the ski, I see a really solid season ahead for our Monster Macc Racing RIVA SEA DOO RXPX Team. Once I turn it up my practice schedule into this mix, we’re going to take earn a dominant streak.
I want to thank my holders and crew, Jeffrey and Tiny, Daniel, Christophe, Major Brian Dennis.
Big thanks to Ronny from Pro Rider Watercraft Magazine for the Awesome photos of Chris.
What is G.O.A.T.?
Greatest Of All Times. Flyin’ Bryan and crew started throwing that around like a badge of honor, and I guess it’s stuck.
Next Destination? I’m on my way to a family wedding in Naples, with my wife Rachel and little Macc, a vacation and family week lay ahead. We’ll be back at the next race, we will miss Montgomery, Alabama this weekend, but we’ll be back in Racine, Wisconsin.
New Racer Advice?
Ride, be on your boat, but more important than that is your physical conditioning. I try to concentrate on this when I can’t be on the track; I switch out and cross train. For me that means I’m going to run or stay engaged physically. It could be a versa climber, anything that keeps your physical striving for the action on the track you are going to experience. Put a training program together, stick to it, improve and sustain. How you train will reflect how you perform.
SPONSORS:
Macc Racing Racing RIVA SEA DOO RXPX, Hydroturf, quakysense, Liquid Militia, Paleo Treats, Ryno Power, Alpina Watches, Tuff Stands, Oakely, JE Pistons, XPS, ADA Racing, K&N Filters