Follmer wins series title

In his most successful year to-date in racing personal watercraft,

Mike Follmer has gained the highest honor -- the No. 1 Plate in the

BP Motorsports 2002 All-Around Off-Shore Endurance Series.

The Newport Beach resident took “the plate” with a third-place

finish at the Team Endurance “300,” a six-hour race on Lake Perris

Oct. 19. He beat out last year’s No. 1- Plate winner, Tracy Malan, by

seven points and has now won seven championships in 2002, eclipsing

the five he won in 2001.

Follmer finished four points behind Malan for the No. 1 Plate last

year.

Follmer raced two watercraft, a R & D Yamaha-GP1200R and an R & D

Yamaha-XL1200 over the 3.6-mile course.

“It’s pretty impressive, this was nine years in the making and a

lot of people played a huge part for us to get this thing,” Follmer

said.

He had never raced two boats prior to the Team Endurance

championship.

He used 225 gallons of fuel between the two watercraft.

“Racing two boats was a major undertaking,” Follmer said. “We had

to use a lot of fuel. I knew where I had to be, I ran second the

whole race and never pushed it to save the equipment and save me.”

His Yamaha XL1200 finished eighth, giving Follmer second place in

the open expert class.

Follmer won seven championships including two national titles and

eight class wins out of nine races in LongCourse, GranPrix and Team

Endurance races this year.

GranPrix races are two hours on 5- to 10-mile courses with a solo

rider held on oceans or lakes. LongCourse races cover 90 minutes on a

3 1/2-half mile layout with a solo rider on a lake or reservoir and

Team Endurance races are typically six-hour races on an ocean or lake

with riders clocking 300 miles.