Wednesday, 31 August: Jeremy Poret’s hopes of regaining his Ski F1 World title hang precariously in the balance after suffering damage to cruciate knee ligaments during a crash at the French Jet Ski Championships in Avignon.
Poret, 23 from St Maximin in France, who won the World title in 2009 now faces a desperate race to get fit in time for the final two races of the year at the ABP-UIM Aquabike Grand Prix of China in Liuzhou on 4-5 October, and is, remarkably, now facing a similar injury crisis that cost him the title last year, missing the last event of the Championship and losing out to his brother Mickael.
The Frenchman heads a trio of his countrymen and has led the standings since the season-opener in Doha, Qatar and holds a comfortable 31-points advantage over Jean-Baptiste Botti, with Christopher Courtois in third place and Mickael Poret in fourth.
The Team Spirit rider has proven the stronger and more consistent of the French quartet, and whilst he and Botti have taken three wins apiece in Qatar, Sardinia and Corsica, Poret has also finished second three times on his Zapata FZ950 to win each Grand Prix.
Should Poret fail to make it to Liuzhou, the race for the title looks to be a two-way fight between Botti and Courtois, but mathematically brings Poret (M), Nachette Armillas and Emanuele Balzer into the equation, but it is Botti who holds the whip hand.
Ski Division F1 - Championship standings after round 3 |
|
1. 72 Jeremy Poret (fra) |
135 pts |
2. 85 Jean-Baptiste Botti (fra) |
104 pts |
3. 95 Christopher Courtois (fra) |
88 pts |
4. 77 Mickael Poret (fra) |
67 pts |
5. 36 Nachete Armillas (esp) |
65 pts |
6. 222 Emanuele Balzer (ita) |
62 pts |
 QAT |
Doha | Mar, 01-03 |
 ITA |
Golfo Aranci | Jun, 01-03 |
| ITA |
Agrigento | Jun, 08-10 |
 UKR |
Kiev | Jul, 27-29 |
 CHN |
Liuzhou | Oct, 03-05 |
| date and venue could be changed | ||
 FR |
Karujet | Mar 29 - Apr 1 |
|
AQUABIKE PROMOTION LIMITED |
|