Chris MacClugage has been in outstanding form in 2017 to be within touching distance of retaining his Pro Series crown for the second successive year.

The opening round of 2017 was hosted off the shores of Daytona Beach and it was a perfect start to MacClugage’s title defence as he secured a trio of victories.

The high winds on the Florida coast provided some brutal conditions for the racers as the majority struggled to keep pace with MacClugage, who lapped the majority of the field on the way to all three victories over the weekend.

Having overcome a clash with Brian Baldwin in race two, MacClugage was forced to hang tight during a collision with Frenchman David Chassier that threw the latter into the water as the race leader tried to lap him.

Eric Francis, who switched to Yamaha from Kawasaki before the start of the season, was the biggest danger to MacClugage, but he found it difficult handling the new GP1800 in such rough conditions.

He ended the final race of the weekend in fourth – enough to put him onto second spot of the podium for the weekend.

World number one at the time, Aero Aswar, endured a mixed weekend but his third in race three was enough to put him into third for the weekend, level on points with Sea-Doo’s top performing rider Erminio Iantosca.

Round two saw the riders tackle the challenging conditions of St Pete Beach and it was once again MacClugage that came out on top despite not winning a race.

Victories for rivals Baldwin, Francis and Nicolas Rius wasn’t enough to stop the reigning champion, who played a tactical game in order to secure his second overall weekend victory.

MacClugage was handed the world number one jersey on the eve of the race weekend after ousting Aswar at the top of the world rankings.

It was a weekend of fine margins as both Francis and Baldwin tied for second, just one point back from MacClugage, with Francis securing second spot by virtue of a win in race three.

Rius headed into the final day leading the weekend after his victory in race two but he was forced to retire from the final race.

MacClugage’s hold was broken in Sarasota as Baldwin closed the gap aloft the table on his way to the weekend win.

After results were adjusted because of a timing error in the only race on Saturday, only one race could be completed because of marine delays on Sunday and Baldwin took advantage as he put in a consistent performance amongst a real mixed bag of results for a number of the top riders.

Iantosca picked up second place but will be disappointed to have not taken top spot after his win in race one was followed up by a 14th placed finish in race two.

Putting a DNF in the opening race, MacClugage fought back to land his fourth race victory of the season and with it the final spot on the podium, just knocking Cyrille Lemoine off the third step on countback.

There was controversy before podium celebrations as Ford rider Eric Lagopolous was disqualified due to a technical infringement after securing enough points for a podium spot.

Just as the chasing pack had picked up pace they were soon pushed away again as MacClugage notched three straight wins and a third weekend victory in Islamorada.

The gremlins of race one in Sarasota seemed well behind the series leader as he notched up three straight victories – although it wasn’t as easy as you might expect.

Rough conditions, in which both marine activity and incoming storms played havoc with the schedule, provided an excellent playground for top class racing.

MacClugage had no troubles dispatching his rivals in race one, holeshotting and never looking back, but in race two he had to face strong competition from both Lemoine and Baldwin.

In a thrilling finish, MacClugage took victory by just one boat length as he and Baldwin flashed past the finish line together.

Lemoine had served up to the pair in the early stages of the race and was looking to grab his first win of the season before taking a swim.

In the final race of the weekend it was Mike Klippenstein’s turn to take on MacClugage as he took the holeshot, battled hard with MacClugage and took the lead before pulling his lanyard and surrendering two places to eventually finish third.

Francis put in another consistent performance to finish inside the top four in all three races and put himself second on the podium, whilst Baldwin suffered an issue with his clutch in race three and was forced to limp round for sixth and third for the overall weekend.

The racing is now heading north to Chicago with MacClugage holding a healthy 70-point lead while Francis and Baldwin in second and third are split by just a solitary point with three races - a possible 75 points - up for grabs this weekend. With so much on the line when the riders arrive in Chicago to take to the Great Lakes it is sure to be another action-packed two days on the water.