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Wow... This is all we can say as we are still on site at the 2012 King's Cup as this [portion of the article] is being written. This is probably the most energetic and suspenseful King's Cup in most people's memory.
Let's get straight to it. Steven Dauliach came into the Sunday event with a fourteen point lead over Chris MacClugage in Pro Ski. There were two motos left. MacClugage won Moto 3 with Dauliach getting third. This put the two contenders within two points of each other going into the final. The chatter and suspense over the upcoming Moto 4 could not be understated. While the anticipation of what might happen held all the way to the checkered flag, Dauliach pulled it off keeping MacClugage in Second place. The multi-time World Champion, who has announced his retirement in 2013, maintained his cool and earned his King's cup.
Hideyuki Kurahashi ended up with a podium third place finish thanks to his consistent runs. Trent Brown and Dustin Motzouris rounded fourth and fifth, respectively. It was a tough weekend for Rick Sherker and Kevin Reiterer who had watercraft or health gremlins interfering with their performance all weekend. Veerapong Maneechom raced the first moto of the Pro Ski series at King's Cup. This is a name that is going to be consistently mentioned in this release.
Pro Runabout found a near identical situation as Pro Ski but a very different outcome. Saturday's events were Moto 1 and Moto 2. Bushell had swept both Motos and Veerapong Maneechom had one second place finish and one third place finish going into the Sunday program. Out of nowhere, Maneechom wins Moto 3 with Bushell finishing in second place.
This set the stage for an exciting Moto 4. Maneechom would holeshot and stay in the lead with Bushell in third place. The Thai audience was on its feet and screaming loudly as Maneechom would round each lap because if he held first place Bushell would fall into the second position if everything stayed the same. Try as he could, Bushell could not pass into second place. At the conclusion of Moto 4, an energetic and proud Thai National, Veerapong quickly grabbed his hometown flag and paraded it in front of the crowd. Supporting Team Flamingo, owned by Henry Knauf, cheered him the whole way through.
It probably is a good time to mention Pro Freestyle now because Maneechom stars in this story as well. As if his plate wasn't full enough, he missed the podium by just over a point. Masahiro Kamezaki held him off the third position to deliver an all Japanese podium. Cliffhangers were a part of this portion of the King's Cup. Bun powered Kazuaki Sakaida held off Naoya Hamanaka for the overall by literally one tenth of a point. Freestyle was noticeably more intense this year and it is predicted to have an even bigger turnout in 2013. Honorable mention goes to Haruki Tsukamoto.
Cup number 3 was Pro Runabout 800. The local contingent got revenge for Freestyle by earning an all Thai podium. Teera Settura took home top honor as he did in Pro Sport GP. Pro Sport GP featured Toshi Ohara in a nice sideshow to his Pro Runabout debut. Superstar Yuki Kurahashi was the only person to pull off a sweep this year. She won all four motos of Pro Am Women's Ski. Perhaps one of the coolest things about the 2012 King's Cup was the Junior Racing which was won by Estonian Pilot, Marten Manni. The Estonian team was huge, by the way.
In a time of Youtube clips and online results, a long internet posting about the results is not the best use of your time, so we are going to cap it here (also they are calling for final boarding at the airport). We hope you enjoy the photos and we will bring you the details of the 2013 King's Cup as soon as we know it. Good job TJSBA and team on an excellent event.
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