· Sousa and Monti disqualified
· Rok Florjancic maintains perfect win record
· Sumer lifts Ladies crown
Sunday, 1 December, ABU Dhabi (UAE): Kuwaits’s Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq and France’s Mickael Poret were crowned UIM-ABP Aquabike World Champions in their respective categories, Runabout GP 1 and Ski GP1, after a dramatic and nail biting final day in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the title races going down to the final race of the season.
The Runabout title race turned on its head in race 1 when Championship leader Cyrille Lemoine stopped on lap 10 of 16, his main rival Abdulrazzaq taking the win to turn the tables to take a 15 point lead going into the final race.
The UAE’s Khalifa Belselah finished second ahead of Kuwait’s Mohamed Burbaye, with Jeremy Perez taking fourth and moving in to second spot alongside Lemoine in the points table, but his title hopes ended in race 2, retiring on lap 3.
The Kuwaiti hit the front in race 2 on lap 6 after the early race leader Belselah retired, but was overhauled by a hard charging Lemoine on the penultimate lap of 16, after a brilliant drive by the Frenchman from the back of the grid. But second place was enough to secure the World title for the Kuwaiti by ten points.
Qatar’s Waleed Al Sharshani grabbed his best result to finish in third ahead of Poland’s Andrezj Wisniewski.
But the real drama of the afternoon focussed on the outcome of the Ski Championship.
The young Portuguese rider Tiago Sousa took the chequered flag in both races in third place ahead of his immediate rival Alberto Monti and looked to have won the title.
But both riders were later sensationally disqualified from the event after their bikes failed post-race scrutineering handing the World title to a somewhat stunned Mickael Poret, who finished second in both races to fellow Frenchman and Abu Dhabi resident Ludo Caumont, with Croatia’s Slaven Ivancic elevated to third overall.
Pija Sumer lifted the Ladies Grand Prix title and Championship crown, taking maximum points in all races in 2013 except one, a DNF in Italy.
After clinching the Freestyle World Championship in Qatar, Slovenia’s Rok Florjancic rounded of his season by adding the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix title to maintain his record of maximum points at each Grand Prix in 2013.
Nac Florjancic finished runner-up in the Championship ahead of Aleksandar Petrovic, but had to settle for third overall today finishing behind Qatar’s Sultan Al Kuwari, by far the best of the six-strong Middle East Freestyle entry.
Runabout GP1
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - overall results:
1. Y Al Abdulrazzaq (kwt) 45pts
2. C Lemoine (fra) 25pts
3. W Al Sharshani (qat) 24pts
World Championship points:
1. Y Al Abdulrazzaq (kwt) 145 2. C Lemoine (fra) 135 3. J Perez (fra) 110 4. F Medori (fra) 89 5. A Wisniewski (pol) 67 6. J T Jimenez 58..
Ski GP1
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - overall results:
1. L Caumont (fra) 50pts
2. M Poret (fra) 40pts
3. S Ivancic (cro) 32pts
World Championship points:
1. M Poret (fra) 118 2. T Sousa (prt) 107 3. A Monti (ita) 105 4. S Ivancic (cro) 95 5. N Armillas (esp) 79 6. J Bohuslav (svk) 76…
Ski GP1 Ladies
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - overall results:
1. P Sumer (svn) 50 pts
2. M Sorrentino (ita) 20 pts
World Championship points:
1. P Sumer (svn) 175 2. M Sorrentino (ita) 112 3. J Menard (fra) 45 4. Yue Nixin (chn) 36 5. Li Qian Qian (chn) 33
Freestyle
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – overall results:
1. R Florjancic (svn) 50 pts
2. S Al Kuwari (qat) 36 pts
3. N Florjancic (svn) 36 pts
World Championship points:
1. R Florjancic (svn) 250 2. N Florjancic (svn) 189 3. A Petrovic (srb) 138 4. S Al Kuwari (qat) 69 5. V Calderoni (ita) 68 6. M Al Buainan (qat) 41…
For all results/championship points go to aquabike.net