MotorActionMedia.com interviews Jayson Handshy, Jet Renu team rider and the champion of regions 5 & 9 with his sights set on bumping up his game in 2016.
Jayson, could you tell us a little about your background in the sport? How did you get involved?
I started riding skis in the surf in California when I was young on some rented 550’s. Every since then I have been hooked. My family moved away from California to Oklahoma and me and my brother started racing motocross until my brother had a bad motocross accident that left him paralyzed. I ended up building an Fx1 as a limited and around my little town I thought it was super fast. I had been buying parts from Craig Ingram and he invited me out to ride buoys with them. At that time I met Trey Southerland and I rode his limited SXR and well, my little Fx1 was no match for Trey’s ski! Years later I ended up buying a stock lites SXR from Trey and I started putting a lot of time into riding. Last season was my first year to compete all season; I raced in region 5 and region 9 — I went all year undefeated and won two regional titles in both regions.
What are your plans for the 2016 season?
This season I have moved up to race Am Ski GP and also Am Ski Limited. I was very lucky to purchase Dustin Motzouris’ open-class Hydrospace. It is a SDC TRAK hull with a Les Cooke built and tuned Weber motor. I also have a limited-class Hydrospace I will be competing on this season and I’m finishing up my lites ski build. This year I will be competing in region 5 and 9 and also racing the Pro Watercross tour and finally competing at the IJSBA World Finals at the end of the season. I definitely have my goals set high and the competition is strong but I really want a world title and that will be my main focus this season. Also, I will be preparing for the next season as my son who has been riding since he was about 5 will be of age (10) to race next season.
What do you love most about the sport?
Two things come to my mind when I am asked about our sport first is the people, in motocross it is a dog eat dog world and in watercross everyone is the opposite at the race sites everyone is there to lend a hand and help each other. The competitiveness is definitely there but total strangers are always willing to help each other. The second is the safety of it as I’ve had some bad motocross wrecks and also had family paralyzed from motocross, I feel it is a lot safer thanks to our course marshals and promoters.
I understand that you are a part of the Jet Renu team? Can you tell me a bit about that?
I have been part of the Jet Renu team since last year, I initially met them at the IJSBA World Finals in 2014. They are truly an asset to our sport not only do they make great products but they are truly great people. I actually won the bucket of products they were raffling off that year so I have tried all of their products and the Pink Quick Shine and Waterspot Remover is a must to have with me! We have hard water in Oklahoma so it spots really bad and the Pink quickly takes care of the water spots.
How do you train for Jet Skiing?
During the off season I train Muay Thai and Jiu-jitsu. During riding season I practice 3-4 times a week and typically try to get in 60-100 laps each session with some great riding partners like Trey Southerland, Rusty Wilson, and Craig Ingram are always pushing me all the way. I owe a lot of thanks to those guys. I always tell people about our sport and how great it is . Im still rather new to the sport myself but practice practice practice break down all the segments, practice starts 25 or more a day starts are so important.
Is there anyone you would like to thank?
There are so many people I would love to thank 509 industries for great helmets and goggles, Kommander industries for all they do and all the questions I always have, Les Cooke for all the tuning advice he has given me, and definitely Rusty Wilson for the 1000s of questions I ask him daily as I’m new to the Hydrospaces this year tuning and working on them is definitely a change from the two stroke world. I also would like to thank Vertebrae chiropractic for keeping my spine aligned Jettrim for great mats, and Jet Renu [wow] I can’t say enough about these people — they are top of the line they just keep giving and giving back to our sport. Oklahoma Martial Arts Academy for my training in the off season and definitely my family for all the support they give and last but not least God without him I would be lost.
