For the 4th year in a row Jettribe Team USA will be taking the beaches of Pattaya City, Thailand by storm, December 5-9 2012, in hopes of bringing home the ever so coveted King's Cup.
Joining the team again this year is Eric Lagopoulos, from Sarasota, Florida. Eric join the Jettribe team over 10 years ago being one of the first sponsored riders. This will be Eric's 5th year racing at the King's Cup.
Rick Sherker, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, captured our hearts three years ago. The Jettribe tour truck was in Georgia on the IJSBA tour stop, when he offered to move his entire pit and RV just to give us his spot. A few months later we picked him up as one of our team riders. Traveling with Rick this year to assist him in the pits is Geno Curran.
While watching Rick from the shoreline at the King's Cup, did we realize that he was truly a talented and skilled rider, taking second place in the Pro Open Ski Class, missing the first place position by only .07 seconds. We are proud and honored to have him and all riders on board.
Core Heimann, Argyle, Texas is one of the coolest guys. While hanging out in Thailand at the race in 2011 here he comes. Making all of his travel arrangements for his ski and gear without a team, he walks through the pits with a 25 gallon drum of EPT race fuel on his shoulder, asking us if we need any extra fuel. It was at that moment when knew we had to add him to our team.
Brent Venderley, Orlando, Florida, is the rookie of the Jettribe Racing team. The bromance started in January of 2012 at the Daytona free ride event. He was new to the PWC industry and coming from Moto Cross. I shared with him my love and experience in the industry and witnessed a fire in his eyes for this new sport. With encouragement, he raced the National tour, World Finals and now Thailand.
This team is handpicked for many reasons. They are down to earth, approachable and very nice guys. It's not about winning races but being a good, positive image for the sport. Each of them are great ambassadors and that is why they are the chosen ones.
The Jettribe Racing Team will be playing host to a new team coming from China. Wu Rong Hua will be participating in the Novice Runabout Stock class, and Liu Yi Cheng and Liang Wen Zhou will be demonstrating their skills in the Pro-Am Runabout class.
The team will be assisting them in the pits and other support that they may need at the race venue. Everyone here at Jettribe Racing wishes them the best of luck in Thailand.
Behind every successful race team there is a successful support staff that travels along to make sure that everything runs like a well oiled machine.
Derek Correll from North Carolina, leads off the support team arriving early to set up the vendor booth and assist with any final details before the remainder of the team arrives.
Ellen Nguyen from Vietnam takes off work every year to meet up with our team in Thailand to help in the vendor booth and hangout. John Cutright is a photographer who makes the trek from California to capture some of the coolest shots for the team for the last 4 years.
Eddy is our local Thai friend who takes the time off from his successful car import company just to make sure our team gets the proper support, from transportation to fuel for the skis. Sam and his family of Motor Field of Thailand make all the behind the scene arrangements for Jettribe and our riders during our stay in Thailand.
New this year, Kay Sykes, Lake Havasu City, Arizona will be joining our team as the Jettribe Team USA Coordinator, making sure the racers are on cue and ready to go for their races.
Brent Venderley
Corey Heimann
Eric Lagopoulos
Rick Sherker
