The Tribune

THIS weekend’s Great Lakes Grand Prix is a leading event in the qualification route to the P1 AquaX World Championship at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island.

The world’s leading P1 AquaX riders arrive in Indiana later this week with one eye on the waters of Lake Michigan and the other on the beautiful, crystal clear seas of The Bahamas as they continue the race to qualify for the World Championship in November.

On the southern shore of the lake, Michigan City will be hosting a P1 AquaX event for the first time as the Great Lakes Grand Prix (August 3-4) celebrates its 11th anniversary by serving up a double bill of world-class personal watercraft action and powerboat racing.

The AquaX USA Pro Series attracts riders from across the United States and Canada, as well as South America and Europe, and this weekend more than 30 riders will be resuming their battle for the national title and to earn points in the Lucas Oil P1 AquaX World Rankings, which identifies the most successful racers in the world.

The current championship leader is Brian Baldwin from North Carolina, who is also the reigning AquaX world champion and the No. 1 ranked rider in the world. Baldwin will head up a 40-strong elite field of the world’s very best PWC racers when Atlantis, Paradise Island near Nassau will provide a stunning setting for the P1 AquaX Bahamas World Championship over the weekend November 8-10.

“It will be the climax to the 14-event international P1 AquaX season which attracts riders from twenty countries,” said Lisa Barsby, Global Head of P1 AquaX and a former world champion rider herself.

“These events comprise the AquaX Race to The Bahamas World Championship.”

Visitors to last year’s Great Lakes Grand Prix pumped more than $12 million into the local economy, the highest amount ever and $2 million more than the 2017 event.

Figures released by Visit Michigan City LaPorte show an all-time high attendance of more than 190,000 over the three days.

For more information, please visit www.greatlakesgrandprix.com