Tuesday, 12 November, DOHA (Qatar): Kuwait’s Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq and
Slovenia’s Rok Florjancic remain unbeaten in their respective categories
at the season mid-point and look to be cruising and on a perfect course
to World titles.

With just two events remaining riders are preparing for this week’s
Grand Prix of Qatar [13-16] in Doha, round 3 [Runabout & Ski GP1 and
4 [Freestyle] of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship.

The 33-year-old Kuwaiti rider has been a revelation this season and has
dominated in Runabout GP1, but it is not simply his four wins and Grand
Prix titles in Italy and China that have impressed, but the manner in
which in each outing he has decimated a world-class field of riders.

Jeremy Perez heads a trio of French riders, including last year’s Doha
Grand Prix winner Cyrille Lemoine and defending World Champion Francois
Medori, who so far this season have simply had no answer to the pace of
the Kuwaiti star.

With a maximum 100 points from four races Abdulrazzaq is 32-points
clear of Perez in the title race with Lemoine a further eight points
adrift in third.

In the spectacular Freestyle category the Slovenian ace from Maribor is
in a different league to his rivals and with six heat wins from six
after two events in China and one in Italy, is on a maximum 150 points
at the top of the table, 37-points clear of defending World Champion his
younger brother Nac.

The Ski GP1 category for men is not so clear cut with three riders in
with a shout at the title; Spain’s Nacho Armillas and Portugal’s Tiago
Sousa have both racked up double heat wins and lifted a Grand Prix title
apiece this season, but it is Italy’s Mr Consistent Alberto Monti who
with four second place finishes leads the title race on 80-points, one
ahead of Armillas with Sousa in third on 60.

In the Ladies division Slovenia’s Pija Sumer leads the title race after
a double heat win in China following a surprise defeat in the
season-opener to French rider Jennifer Menard and leads Marta Sorrentino
by 23-points.

This week’s Aquabike Grand Prix of Qatar gets underway tomorrow with
rider registration and technical scrutineering to kick-start a ten-day
festival of speed in the Qatari capital.

Powerboats take over on 20-21 November with Nations Cup followed by
round four of the F1H2O World Championship and the F-4S Eurofin Trophy
on 21-23.

·       Mickael Poret outshines title contenders Sousa and Monti in Ski

Saturday, 30 November, ABU DHABI (UAE): Today it was the turn of the
UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship to take centre stage in the Abu
Dhabi International Water Sports Festival.

Forty-eight riders from 13 countries took to the waters in front of Abu
Dhabi’s spectacular corniche for the opening salvos in the final Grand
Prix of the year, with the world titles in Runabout GP1 and Ski GP1
coming down to the wire, to be decided in tomorrow’s final two races of
the season.

In the blue riband Runabout it is France versus Kuwait and a three way
fight between the championship leader Cyrille Lemoine, Yousef Al
Abdulrazzaq and Jeremy Perez, the trio separated by just 13 points.

In qualifying there were few surprises in the first 20 minute session
with all the top riders easing into Q2, the notable absentees who failed
to make the top ten cut were Italians Mattia Fracasso and Lorenzo
Benaglia in eleventh and twelfth.

A close second session saw the top three riders split by less than 5/10
tenths but it is the Kuwaiti Al Abdulrazzaq who goes into tomorrow’s
double-header with the advantage, his time of  1:24.05s set on his only
flying lap putting him in pole position for race 1.

But it may have come at a cost after he was forced to pull out with an
engine problem and there were concerned faces in the Kuwaiti camp as
they started to work on his bike.

Championship leader Cyrille Lemoine will have to make up ground and
starts from third place after his time of 1:24.51s was bettered in the
closing stages by UAE rider Khalifa Belselah by 4/100ths, with Jeremy
Perez facing an uphill task to keep his title hopes alive, starting from
fifth.

It was a good session for the Middle East riders with five posting top
ten times, Kuwait’s Mohamed Burbaye claiming fourth spot and the Qatari
duo, Waleed Al Sharshani and Abdullah Fadel in seventh and tenth.

With 25 the maximum of riders eligible to take to the water in
qualifying and in tomorrow’s race, a pre-qualifying session took place
earlier in the day with 11 riders fighting for the available nine
places.

Mohamed Burbaye and the Khalifa Belselah dominated the session, Burbaye
topping the time sheets with 1:27.18seconds, just over a tenth quicker
than Belselah, Qatar’s Waleed Al Sharshani going third quickest.

With France’s Sebastien Touyeras failing to start just one would be
eliminated, the unfortunate Mohammed Moshen the rider failing to make
the cut.

Portugal’s Tiago Sousa has the upper hand in Ski but leads by just two
points from Italy’s Alberto Monti, and both were overshadowed in
qualifying by France’s Mickael Poret who claimed his third pole position
of the year, going quickest in 1:20.61s, with Sousa second.

Monti finds himself up against it and starts from fourth behind Abu
Dhabi resident Ludo Caumont making his one and only appearance in the
Championship.

Slovenia’s Pija Summer is the odds on favourite in the Ladies division
and was again impressive, just failing to make it out of Q1 but again
showing a handful of her male peers the way round, posting the sixth
fastest time, her only rival Marta Sorretino starting from ninth place.

With the Freestyle World title already in the hands of Slovenia’s Rok
Florjancic tomorrow is all about filling the podium places, the fight
between Nac Florjancic and Serbia’s Aleksandar Petrovic, and to see if
any of the six Middle East entries can cause an upset.

Qualifying results:

Runabout GP1

1. 12  Y Al Abdulrazzaq (kwt) - 1:24.05s

2. 3  K Belselah (uae) - 1:24.47s

3. 9  C Lemoine (fra) - 1:24.51s

4. 20  M Burbaye (kwt) - 1:25.30s

5. 86 J Perez (fra) - 1:27.30s

6. 7  W Al Sharshani (qat) - 1:27.48s

Ski GP1

1. 77  M Poret (fra) - 1:20.61s

2. 82  T Sousa (prt) - 1:22.16s

3. 6  L Caumont (fra) – 1:22.91s

4. A  Monti (ita) - 1:25.75s

5. 4  S  Ivancic (cro) - dns

For all results visit aquabike.net

Sunday, 1 December, ABU DHABI (UAE): Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq has put
himself into a commanding position in the chase for the Runabout World
title after winning race 1 in Abu Dhabi with his main rival Cyrille
Lemoine stopping on lap 10 of 16.

The Kuwaiti’s comprehensive start-to-finish victory moves him to the
top of the standings, 15 points clear of Lemoine, now tied in second
spot with fellow Frenchman Jeremy Perez who finished fourth behind
Khalifa Belselah and Mohamad Burbaye.

Portugal’s Tiago Sousa edged closer to the Ski title after finishing in
third ahead of his closest challenger Italy’s Alberto Monti, the duo
now separated by five points.

Race1 honours went to Abu Dhabi resident Ludo Caumont with Mickael Poret finishing second.

With the final race of the season just hours away it is a
winner-takes-all scenario in both Runabout and Ski with the two biggest
prizes in World Aquabike racing up for grabs - in Runabout it is Kuwait
versus France and in Ski Portugal versus Italy.

·       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