Tuesday, 27 May: Julie Bulteau will make a welcome return to the
UIM-ABP tour when she lines up in Ski GP1 for the Grand Prix of Italy in
Milan on 5-8 June.

The triple World Champion will make her first and possibly only
appearance of the year following a 20 month break from the Championship
after taking time out to have her first baby with Jeremy Poret, Lucas.

The 26-year-old superstar from St Maximin in France made her racing
debut at 17 and went on to become a dominant force in the sport between
2007-2012 winning the European Championship in 2007 and 2008.

The first of her three World titles came in 2009 and followed up with
an unbeaten run in 2010, then winning six races and three Grand Prix
titles out of four to successfully defend her title again in 2011. But
she missed out on a possible fourth consecutive crown after opting to
miss the final Grand Prix of the year in China to race in the USA, the
2012 title going to Italy’s Stefania Balzer.

Competing alongside the men in a field of an anticipated 30 riders, the
fiercely competitive Bulteau will line up alongside her immediate
rivals for points and the GP title, Championship leader Jennifer Menard,
Estelle Poret, Marta Sorrentino and newcomer, Jonna Borgstrom.

*ROK TOPS THE CHARTS AGAIN

Saturday, 7 June, MILAN (Italy):

Estelle Poret produced a simply stunning performance in race 1 of Ski
GP1 at the Grand Prix of Italy to take her first win on the UIM-ABP tour
with a start-to-finish victory over pole-sitter Jennifer Menard, with
Swedish youngster Emma Ortendahl finishing third on her debut.

The win, described by the young 18-year-old from Lyon as the ‘best day
of her life’ kicked off an afternoon of celebrations inside the Poret
family camp, when her success and maiden victory was followed by an
equally impressive ride by her second eldest brother, Jeremy, who came
from behind to beat his arch-rival, America’s Chris MacClugage and take
his third straight win of the year, with Portugal’s Tiago Sousa in
third.

The Ski Ladies race kicked-off an afternoon of spectacular racing with
Estelle Poret grabbing the advantage from the green flag to jump
yesterday’s top qualifier Jennifer Menard and opening up a massive five
second lead by the end of lap 1.

But Menard dug deep and gave chase and gradually closed in on the
leader with the split down to 2.5 seconds on lap five of ten, but Poret
absorbed the pressure and responded and pushed again to increase the gap
and go on to close out the race to win by 4.78 seconds. “It is the best
day of my life to get my first win on this tour,' said Estelle. 'The
event has been great so far and to win against such good riders makes it
even better.'

Behind the front runners Julie Bulteau fought it out with 15-year-old
Emma Ortendahl, but the combination of a miss-firing engine and fatigue
took its toll, with the Swedish youngster moving into third place on lap
8 to round off an impressive debut, her countrywoman Jonna Borgstrom,
also making her debut and just 16, finishing in fifth.

The men’s heat produced another titanic battle between Poret and
MacClugage, the American making his customary electrifying start to get
ahead of pole-sitter Poret, with Tiago Sousa, Alberto Monti and Nacho
Armillas taking up the chase.

MacClugage held firm but could not widen the gap to more than two
seconds, when on lap 7 Poret started to make his move on the leader,
closing in and then passing him on lap 8, going on to take his third win
of the year and extend his Championship lead, finishing nine seconds
clear of  MacClugage. “After that start I knew I would have to play a
waiting game and chose the right moment to attack and when it came I
took it,' Poret said. 'Mac is a great racer but I saw him make a small
mistake and was able to pass.  The conditions were very tough but it
really suited my new Kawasaki and to win on my first race with it is
great. And I am also so proud of my little sister, what a great win for
her.”

The American was as gracious as ever in defeat after following the
Frenchman home again. “It was a great race but I made a stupid mistake
on the alternate course and Jeremy knew it and took full advantage,' he
said.  'The conditions were unbelievable; it was like driving on
cobblestones and at times over massive speed bumps. It was hard to get a
good feel but the ski ran really well. I have to say the marshalls’ out
on the course were incredible, controlling so many bikes and making it
easy for us to get past back markers. They did a fantastic job.'

Sousa was comfortable in third for all of the ten laps, behind him
Monti and Armillas traded places, the Spaniard moving into third place
on lap 3 Italy’s Monti grabbing it back on the penultimate lap, with
Croatia’s Tomaz Kete and Norway’s Stian Schjetlein fighting to complete
the top six, Kete winning that fight.

The afternoon’s Blue Riband event, Runabout GP1 was full of drama and
produced an extraordinary and spectacular ending to the days racing,
with the early race leaders Lorenzo Benaglia and Thamer Al-Darwish both
hitting trouble, then Francois Medori losing the lead and the race on
the penultimate turn of the final lap after being passed by Jeremy
Perez.

Benaglia stormed to the front from the start and for the first three
laps was in complete control and the thousands of spectators started to
think of an Italian win on home water, then on lap 4 a problem with the
compressor forced him  to stop and carry out on-water repairs,
eventually fixing the problem but dropping down to finish in 21st place.

Al-Darwish took over at the front and led until lap 10 when he was hit
from the side and ran off the circuit, recovering to finish in tenth,
the lead changing for the third time as France’s Francois Medori hit the
front on lap 11.

The Frenchman led for the next four laps but was being chased down by
his hard-charging countryman Jeremy Perez, who looked to have too much
to do when he was forced to take the penalty buoy at the end of the
penultimate lap.

But Perez had other ideas and drove like a man possessed closing in on
Medori and snatching the win with the chequered flag just metres away.
“I really didn’t think I could do it after taking the penalty. I thought
it was too much,' said an exhausted Perez. “I just gave it everything I
had left and then I saw him make a small mistake and just pushed one
last time and came out of the alternate course in front. It was a really
tough race, very hard conditions, but a great one to win.'

Qatar’s Mohamed Al-Heidus made up for the team’s disappointment of
seeing Al-Darwish literally knocked off the lead and produced a battling
performance to take third place from pole-sitter Teddy Pons, with
Spain’s Jordi Tomas Jimenez moving up from twelfth to finish in fifth
ahead of Poland’s Andrezj Wisniweski.

In Freestyle the Rok Florjancic show rolled on and up and over and
backwards, and once again the Slovenian was in a class of his own,
topping the points for variety, style and quantity and awarded 94 out of
a maximum 100, with brother Nac in second and Italy’s Valerio Calderoni
in third.

Runabout GP1 – heat 1

1. J Perez (fra) - 0:00

2. F Medori (fra) - 1.75s

3. M Al Heidus (qat) - 10.38s

4. T Pons (fra) - 1:03s

5. J Tomas Jimenez (esp) - 1:06s

Ski GP1 – heat 1

1. J Poret (fra) - 0:00

2. C MacClugage (usa) + 9.35s

3. T Sousa (por) + 19.32s

4. A Monti (ita) + 20.32s

5. N Armillas (esp) + 41.34s

Ski GP1 Ladies – heat 1

1. E Poret (fra) - 0:00

2. J Menard (fra) + 4.78s

3. E Ortendahl (swe) +47.67s

Freestyle – heat 1

1. R Florjancic (cro) - 94pts

2. N Florjancic (cro) - 83pts

3. V Calderoni (ita) - 67pts

For the full set of results go to aquabike.net

Monday, 30 June: The Spanish Island of Ibiza is gearing up for the
Mediterranean Grand Prix, 5-7 September, a spectacular sporting triple
header with the opening rounds of the UIM Class 1 and V1 World Powerboat
Championships and round 3 of the UIM-ABP Aquabike Class Pro World
Championship.

The countdown to the event officially started at a press conference
held at the new Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza with Daniel Gomez Korf, CEO and
founder of the Ibiza World Championship (IWC), stating that, “This is a
unique opportunity that will put Ibiza at the heart of the global scene
of extreme water sports and is for sure an unprecedented event that will
help to further promote tourism on the island.”

The three days of non-stop action will see powerboats and Aquabikes
rubbing shoulders and sharing centre stage with the Class 1 and V1
paddock in the heart of town at Marina Ibiza, where the evening
Freestyle and Slalom events will also take place, with the Aquabike pits
and race circuit located at Platja D’en Bossa in front the of Ushuaia
Ibiza Beach Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza.

The revised World Championship events format ‘Classone’ will see the
Class 1 Catamarans and V1 Monohulls running together on a simple
mirror-image circuit with separate sets of turn-buoys, Class 1 turning
on the inside marks, V1 the outside and a spectacular rolling start with
all boats running line-a-breast.

The Class 1 line-up includes the World’s top three, Victory,
Zabo-Isiklar, LFF10 and the European Champions LFF8, Team Abu Dhabi, DAC
Racing and D’Alessio /SCAM, with V1 teams Searex from Germany, RG87 and
Tommy Racing from Italy, Chaudron from Malta and Silverline from the
UK.

For round 3 of the Aquabike World Championship, promoter H2O Racing is
anticipating another mammoth entry to match the turnout for round 2 in
Milan, which saw for the first time the maximum entry in both Runabout
and Ski with 25 and 30 riders lining up, as well as seven in Ski Ladies
and five in Freestyle.

Photo (from right to left): Marcos Marí, Marina Ibiza CEO; Lavinia
Cavallero, Vice President of H20 Racing; Mikel Martínez Astelarra, CEO
and founder of the Ibiza World Championship (IWC); Daniel Gómez Korf,
CEO and founder of the Ibiza World Championship (IWC); Vicent Serra
Ferrer, President of the Consell Insular d’Eivissa; José Miguel Martínez
Castejón, Real Spanish Federation of Motorboats President; Carmen
Ferrer, Consellera of Turisme d’Eivissa and Jesús Sobrino, Palladium
Hotel Group Vice Director.

Monday, 1 September: French riders Jeremy Perez, Jeremy Poret and
Jennifer Menard will line-up in Ibiza [5-7 September] looking to defend
and build on their Championship leads in their respective categories
Runabout GP1 and Ski GP1, when an expected 65-competitors from 15
countries take to the waters off Playa d’en Bossa for the Mediterranean
Grand Prix, round 3 of the UIM-ABP Aquabike Class Pro World
Championship.

In the spectacular Freestyle category the aerial insanity and
breathtaking array of tricks will continue with the seemingly invincible
defending World Champion Rok Florjancic looking to extend his
remarkable unbeaten run on the UIM-ABP tour since his debut in 2011,
winning 20 times to claim 10 Grand Prix titles.

The biggest threat that the 29-year-old from Maribor in Slovenia faces
will come from his younger brother Nac who won the World title in 2012
and sits in second spot 20 points behind him, with the fight for the
third step of the podium between Italians Valerio Calderoni and Roberto
Mariani.

With the standard set and the bar raised to new heights following two
outstanding events in Qatar and Italy, the action is set to ratchet-up
another gear as we head into the second half of the season.

Jeremy Perez is the inform rider in Runabout and leads the World
Championship by a slender three points from fellow-Frenchman Teddy Pons
with Qatar’s Mohammed Al Heidus leading the Middle East challenge in
third, a further eight points adrift  on 50.

Perez, 27, from Lambesc in France topped the Runabout World Rankings at
the end of last year and is enjoying his best season on the UIM-ABP
tour and having a stellar run. He recovered from a shaky start in Qatar
finishing 12^th overall but hit back in Italy to complete a
brilliant win-double to take his first GP title and the lead in the race
for the World title. In July he clinched the European title with two
heat wins out of three in Mirandela, Portugal and maintains his number
one spot in the World Rankings.

Pons is another enjoying a strong season, winning heat 2 in Qatar to
take second overall and grabbing third overall last time out in Italy,
whilst Marina4 teammates Cyrille Lemoine and Mattia Fracasso in fourth
and fifth places will be hoping that the technical issues that have
hindered their title challenges have been resolved, Lemoine especially
after winning heat 1 and the title in Qatar.

Returning to the tour after a simply disastrous no points tally in the
season-opener and missing the last event through injury is Kuwait’s
defending World Champion Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq who has to win both heats
in Ibiza if he is to kick-start his title defence.

In Ski the title race looks to be between Jeremy Poret, Portugal’s
Tiago Sousa and America’s Chris MacClugage. What is certain is that a
new Champion will be crowned at the end of the year following the
withdrawal from the series through injury that requires surgery of
defending Champion Mickael Poret.

The Poret-MacClugage fight is turning into an epic contest; two-time
World Champion Poret leads the Championship standings with a 91 to 65
points advantage over multiple Champion MacClugage in third, has three
heat wins to his rivals one but they share Grand Prix honours winning
one a piece, Poret climbing the top step in Qatar MacClugage in Milan.

But Sousa, the world number two and European Champion in second spot on
72 points may well hold the key, is a genuine title threat and is quick
and super consistent finishing second overall in Qatar and third in
Milan. And if Poret and MacClugage get caught up in their personal
battle Sousa could well deliver a knockout punch and steal through to
grab the advantage.

Double Grand Prix and triple heat winner Jennifer Menard is the pick of
the group in Ski Ladies and heads up the points standings from Estelle
Poret who grabbed her first heat win on the tour in Italy, with Marta
Sorrentino in third. All three will face a strong challenge from Spain’s
Sandra Fernandez Rodriquez, the 2014 European Champion.

Additional Spanish interest will focus on Runabout tour regular Jordi Tomas Jimenez lying in 19^th
place after picking up 13 points finishing fourth in heat 1 in Italy,
and debutants Roberto Alexander Al Pino, Alejandro Molina Miranda and
Toni Vingut Riggal.

In Ski, and still on the comeback trail after suffering multiple back
injuries following a horror crash in an invitation event in China in
October last year, is 21-year-old Nacho Armillas.

The Besalu resident will be hoping to regain the form that took him to
his first heat and Grand Prix win in China and the world number two spot
in 2012. A frustrating 2014 saw him lose a podium finish in Qatar after
being DQ’d when his Ski failed post-race scrutineering, break in heat 2
after a fifth in heat 1 in Italy. He is joined by countrymen Kevin
Moreno Rojo, Fede Fuster, Carlos Vela Sanandres and Lucas Oliver Bulto.

First practice kicks off at 10.00hrs [local] on Friday, followed by
pre-qualifying in Runabout at 14.00hrs with official qualifying in all
categories starting at 16.15hrs. Heats 1 and 2 take place at 16.15hrs on
Saturday and Sunday.

For further Championship information and timings visit; aquabike.net

For event information visit; ibizaworldchampionship.com