Sea-Doo dealers may have just found another way to entice their most performance-oriented customers. BRP is once again showing its commitment to the sport of personal watercraft racing with the announcement of the 2013 Sea-Doo X-TEAM “Big Bucks” Bounty program. The popular contingency program pays racers cash bonuses for a top placing in all IJSBA-sanctioned closed-course races in the United States and Canada, as well as the IJSBA National Tour and IJSBA World Championship. Bounty awards are also available for select offshore/endurance-style events, including the Mark Hahn Memorial 300 and Long Beach 2 Catalina races.
Sea-Doo’s obviously feeling bullish about the brand’s racing success coming out of 2012. Racers aboard the brand claimed 16 of 21 available titles at the 2012 IJSBA World Finals, and filled 47 of the 63 available podium positions. X-TEAM rider James Bushell led the way. In two years, the 158 Performance rider has claimed four pro runabout titles.
As the “Big Bucks” moniker suggests, this year’s Bounty program will shell out even larger payouts for wins and championships. The goal is obvious — to further raise the incentive for riders to reach the top spots of the podium. The program will award bonuses of $100 for both Expert Runabout Open and Runabout Stock class winners at all IJSBA-sanctioned closed-course events, and $50 for an Expert class runner-up slot.
Pro-Am level payouts increase to $100 for a Pro-Am Runabout Limited win ($50 for second place), and $260 for either a Pro-Am Runabout Stock or Pro-Am Runabout win ($150 for second in both classes). Payouts at the IJSBA National Tour will increase to $150 for Expert class wins in those same classes ($100 for 2nd), give $200 to Pro-Am Runabout Limited winners ($100 for 2nd), and jump to $800 for victories in both Pro-Am Runabout Stock and Pro-Am Runabout Open. The latter classes will also pay $300 for second place finishes, and $200 for third.
The National Tour Overall Points Champions will also receive some heady payouts. Overall points winners in both the Pro-Am Runabout Stock and Pro-Am Runabout Open will receive a $4,000 payout.
At the IJSBA World Finals, Sea-Doo will reward riders in Novice Runabout Stock, Novice Runabout Limited, Amateur Runabout Open, Amateur Veterans Runabout Open, Expert Runabout Limited, Pro Women Runabout, Pro-Am Runabout Limited, Pro-Am Runabout Stock, Pro GP Runabout, and Pro Runabout Open. Payouts range from $150 for a Novice title, to $4,000 for the Pro Runabout Open win. The two endurance races will also pay winners $500, with $260 going to the runner-up.
“BRP is dedicated to supporting the sport of watercraft racing and giving the high-performance Sea-Doo watercraft owner a place, with incentives, to enjoy their Sea-Doo in a competitive atmosphere,” said Adrien De Alexandris, brand manager of Sea-Doo watercraft. “Watercraft racing is a great family sport, and supporting this community complements our efforts in producing the industry’s best high-performance watercraft in the Sea-Doo RXP-X, RXT-X and GTR 215 models.”
Racer requirements are minimal. Participants must race on a 4-TEC watercraft, list Sea-Doo as the brand and Sea-Doo X Team as a sponsor on all entry forms, display the Bounty and Sea-Doo logos, and submit the proper paperwork to claim a payout.
In addition to the racer support, BRP is also offering the Sea-Doo Promoter Support program. Like the carrot offered to the racers, the goal of the promoter program is to provide sponsorship to help promoters produce better, more fun, high-quality events. According to BRP reps, the company will work with promoters to ensure Sea-Doo owners have a place to ride and compete in an organized manner. For 2013, the company is lending its sponsorship support to 10 events across North America, including the IJSBA World Finals, Toyota U.S. National Tour, Pro Hydro-X Tour (Southeast U.S.), Texas Championship Tour, Greenhulk.net HydroDrags (Southeast U.S.), Canadian Watercross Tour, RPM West Coast Series (California and Arizona), Great Lakes Watercross (Wisconsin and Minnesota), Hahn 300 (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.), and the Aqua-X Series (Florida).
Sea-Doo dealers can encourage their customers to learn more about the Bounty program, as well as download redemption forms, by visiting the Sea-Doo blog “OnBoard” at www.sea-doo.com.
