HSR-Benelli Freezes Race Program
Due to Conflict, Hydrospace Holds Sponsorship Program for 2008
According to HSR-Benelli's press department, the dark horse watercraft manufacturer known mostly for its avante guard S4 4-stroke, turbo-charged stand-up ski - has been met with continuous conflict from various racing organizations so much so that it has decided to freeze its racer support program until further notice.
"Since we started our business, our idea was to improve the sport by creating the best products. We did a lot in the past to support races and organizations," the press announcement begins. "In 2007, we decided to give support to all registered riders in all national and international championships with the idea to help also organizers and event managers. But from the beginning, HSR-Benelli has been receiving pressure from different organizations and federations which have tried to stop our spirit of innovation."
"So, at this point, our position is that there is no possibility of supporting racing now, as there is not a straight structure and common understanding. For these reasons, we have taken the decision not to follow with the race support program this year, but we hope in the future we can give again full support to the sport."
This information comes on the cusp of APBA homologation standard changes requiring a completed 300 stand-up units and 500 runabouts to participate in 2008's racing season. This decision was concluded after the announcement of HSR-Benelli's broadside assault on nearly every form of Stock and Super Stock racing categories with its selection of new, glutonous horsepower-touting craft.
While maintaining a fair and level playing field is the intent of all sanctioning bodies, it is also impressive that a single manufacturer would choose to fly directly in the face of a gradual retreat from professional racing by the sport's original manufacturers. As for most racers, HSR-Benelli poses a problem which has strangled every form of professional vehicle racing, He with the most money wins.
Hydrospace's product - while technologically superior to its stand-up brethen - is also the most costly. Additionally, maintainence of such a craft has proved exhorbinantly expensive, making the retraction of the company's sponsorship program almost a death sentence for its supported racers across the world. Sanctioning bodies - particularly the IJSBA - were met with criticism recently when word that only 19 S4s were registered in 2007, 81 short of the rulebook's recommended 100 for homologation.
What this spells for the company's wild-but-true 342-horsepower S-Series runabout and lesser-powered siblings is still nebulous, not to mention the 160-plus-horsepower stand-ups. But word has come to Pesonal Watercraft Illustrated that Hydrospace/HSR-Benelli is currently in the works of landing a facility here in the states (presumably, Florida, where Riva Motorsports once was the sole distrution point for the brand domestically). Lastly, HSR-Benelli informed us that the brand is shaping their spellbinding S-Series to be the Lamborghini of watercraft. We can't wait to check them out.
Text by Kevin Shaw
Photography courtesy of HSR-Benelli
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