Drama Unfolds as Qatar Aquabike Grand Prix Crowns Winners

Championship battles intensified across a thrilling day of UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship racing at the Old Doha Port Grand Prix of Qatar on Friday, with Jéremy Perez seizing the Runabout GP1 title lead after François Medori’s engine failure, whilst Benedicte Drange produced a stunning comeback drive in Ski Ladies GP1 and evening parallel slalom action delivered three new world champions.

The hectic schedule saw eight competitive sessions unfold in brutal October heat, with morning victories for Estelle Poret, Quinten Bossche and Amer Hawair followed by afternoon drama as Perez capitalised on Medori’s misfortune and Drange stormed from the back of the grid to claim a career-defining victory.

Morning Session Delivers Opening Victories

Poret Extends Championship Lead Despite Difficulties

Estelle Poret secured a crucial Ski Ladies GP1 victory despite describing it as the most difficult race of her career. The French rider now holds a 13-point advantage over Jasmiin Ypraus and a 32-point cushion over Drange with two motos remaining.

Drange initially claimed the hole shot from pole-sitter Poret, leading the nine-rider field through the first three laps. The Norwegian held off mounting pressure from her French rival before disaster struck. Her ski suddenly lost power, leaving her stranded in the water and handing Poret the lead.

Poret said:

I think it was the most difficult race of my life. I don’t know why. I was so tired at the beginning and, at the end, I win and I am happy. But I am not so happy with my ride today. I don’t know what happened. I took the blue split and she (Benedicte) passed me on the green split. I am happy to have a bigger lead in the World Championship but I need to change the way I ride this afternoon.

The French rider survived a late scare to win by 1.939 seconds from Naomi Benini, with defending champion Ypraus third. Jessica Chavanne and River Varner completed the top five, whilst Emma Morlaes dropped back after incurring two 30-second penalties for missing the joker lap.

Bossche Dominates as Koch Hansen Extends Title Lead

World champion Quinten Bossche delivered another commanding performance in Ski Division GP1, leading from start to finish to claim his fourth victory from seven motos. However, the Belgian’s run of success came with a tinge of frustration as Oliver Koch Hansen’s second-place finish allowed the Dane to extend his championship lead to 13 points over Jéremy Poret.

Bossche said:

Four wins from seven but I don’t really know what to say. A good job to Oliver. I am sure if he doesn’t break, he is going to be the World Champion this year. It’s a bit sour. It’s extremely rough and hot out there today. It’s very hot and humid.

The Belgian established a four-second advantage by the end of lap one and steadily increased the gap, eventually finishing 7.722 seconds clear of Koch Hansen. The rough conditions and punishing heat took their toll on the entire field.

Koch Hansen added:

The race was incredibly hard. The start for me was not the best but I found a way and I came behind Quinten. I got close to him but for me I got the place and it worked out. The waves here were crazy. All over the place from the start.

Jéremy Poret secured third place, finishing 17 seconds behind the runner-up, with Kevin Reiterer and Toshi O’Hara completing the top five. Benjamin Scharff faced additional challenges after being forced to start from the rear following missed qualifying, having shared his ski with Emy Garcia, whose session ended with an overheating turbine.

Hawair Takes Runabout GP2 Asian Honours After Rival’s Penalty

Amer Hawair claimed victory in the opening Runabout GP2 Asian Continental Championship moto after rival Khalaf Al-Kuwari was handed a two-lap penalty for course cutting.

The Emirati rider took the hole shot from pole position and immediately began building an advantage over Khalid Al-Maazmi and the Qatari contingent. Al-Kuwari had briefly seized second place from Al-Maazmi and recorded the fastest lap before race officials intervened.

Hawair crossed the line 1.277 seconds clear, with Al-Kuwari initially classified second. However, the penalty dropped the Qatari to sixth, promoting Al-Maazmi and Mohamed Abumaali onto the podium behind the race winner. Mahmoud Abumaali and Daoud Kaloti completed the top-five finishers.

Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq skipped the moto entirely, opting to focus on securing pole position for the first Runabout GP1 race later in the weekend.

Afternoon Drama Reshapes Championship Picture

Perez Seizes Title Lead as Medori Retires

The Runabout GP1 moto delivered the day’s biggest championship swing. Medori had started with a 16-point advantage and fought through to take the lead on lap eight, only for his engine to fail moments later. Al-Abdulrazzaq inherited first place but also suffered technical problems, allowing Perez to snatch victory by 1.631 seconds over György Kasza.

The result hands Perez a nine-point championship lead heading into Saturday’s final moto. Perez said:

I feel really good. It was a really difficult race. I push and push and György passed me and I passed him again on the last corner. I am happy to win. François was faster than me but we will see. The strategy now will be to get a good start in Moto 2 and try to push and not to lose places. I know that I need to finish four or five so I will manage my race.

Waleed Al-Sharshani claimed a sensational home podium for Qatar in third, with Linus Lindberg and Pierre-François Savelli rounding out the top five. Al-Abdulrazzaq retired after leading the early stages, whilst Medori’s championship hopes now rest on Saturday’s finale.

Drange Produces Career-Best Comeback Drive

A fuel pump failure whilst leading the morning’s opening moto had relegated Drange to the rear of the 10-boat Ski Ladies GP1 field. What followed was a performance the Norwegian described as possibly the best race of her career.

Starting ninth or 10th, Drange carved through the field on the opening lap, passing defending champion Ypraus before hunting down Chavanne and pole-sitter Poret. She snatched the lead on lap two and pulled clear to win by 2.398 seconds.

Drange said:

In Moto 1, I had the lead and then my fuel pump broke. I was full speed on the stretch and it broke. I did not finish and it was a heartbreak because I was going for a title. I thought to myself, I will start as nine or 10 in Moto 2 and the championship is not on the line anymore. I needed to bring back my joy of racing. When I had a championship, it was too much pressure. I don’t enjoy it. I went out had fun, did the best I could and had a brilliant start. I swept past half the field and passed Jasmiin on the first lap. Then I took Estelle and Jessica. It was probably the best race I have done in my career. I am super happy and dedicate this victory to my team and my mechanics.

Poret overtook Chavanne to secure second, whilst Ypraus fought back to claim third after a subdued start. Varner received a two-lap penalty for course cutting, and Benini was docked 40 seconds for lane indiscipline, promoting Garcia to sixth.

Despite her heroics, Drange’s title hopes appear over. Poret’s 15-point cushion over Ypraus means the French rider needs only to finish both remaining motos to claim the crown.

Reiterer Controls Brutal Conditions as Bossche’s Defence Crumbles

World champion Bossche’s campaign suffered another crushing blow in the Ski GP1 category. After controlling the morning’s opening moto, the Belgian tumbled on the start and dropped to 17th of 19 riders. He fought back into contention only to be disqualified for rising in the wrong direction, compounding a disastrous weekend.

Kevin Reiterer inherited the lead from Jéremy Poret on the opening lap and controlled proceedings in punishing conditions. The veteran Austrian described it as one of the roughest motos he had experienced, with rollers from spectator boats creating havoc on the straights.

Reiterer said:

This morning I thought it was going to be easier than yesterday but it was up and down like crazy. We had rollers coming in from boats that we weren’t expecting on the straights. We were just taking off. It was really rough, one of the roughest and hardest Motos I have ever done. I got off to an okay start and then Quinten’s boat shut off and he fell back. I tried to pace myself, save some energy and put in some good laps if there was a fight later. Five to seven seconds was a good gap so that you don’t have to worry in the splits.

He eventually won by 14.999 seconds from O’Hara. Koch Hansen claimed third to extend his championship lead to 18 points over Jéremy Poret, who could only manage sixth behind Valentin Dardillat and Scharff.

Hawair Dominates Runabout GP2 Again

Emirati Hawair claimed his second successive Asian Continental Championship victory in Runabout GP2, taking the hole shot from pole position and controlling the race from start to finish. He led by over six seconds through lap two and eventually won by 3.837 seconds from Saudi Arabia’s Kaloti, who passed both Mohamed and Mahmoud Abumaali in the closing stages. Mahmoud Abumaali completed the podium ahead of Al-Maazmi and Al-Kuwari.

Evening Parallel Slalom Crowns Three World Champions

The second of the Freestyle Motos was held in tandem with the three heats in the UIM-ABP World Parallel Slalom Championship that made up an evening of thrilling entertainment. The dozen Freestylers carried out their on-water acrobatic programmes in between the Ski Ladies GP1, Ski GP1 and Runabout GP1 heats with qualifying determined from Thursday afternoon’s pole position sessions.

Drange Seals the Deal in Ski Ladies GP1

Drange, Benini, Ypraus and Garcia made up the semi-final line-up for the Ski Ladies GP1 parallel slalom competition. Drange got the better of Benini in the opener and technical issues prevented Garcia from taking then start against Ypraus and the Estonian had a free passage into the final.

Benini faced Garcia in the third-place play-off. The Italian stormed to the win in the opener, Garcia levelled the score in heat two and Benini earned the bronze medal in heat three. Drange faced off with Ypraus in the Ladies’ final. Drange narrowly edged the opener and a mistake by defending champion Ypraus at a turn buoy in run two gifted victory and the title to the Norwegian.

Bossche Strikes Gold in Ski GP1

Quinten Bossche took on fellow Belgian Anthony Beernaut and Morgan Poret lined up against Toshi O’Hara in the Ski GP1 semi-final shoot-out. Bossche narrowly edged his duel with Beernaut and O’Hara reached the final in the second run-off.

Poret and Beernaut lined up for the third-place play-off and the Belgian edged the opener in a photo finish and Beernaut won heat two in another nip and tuck barn-stormer to take third place.

Bossche and O’Hara faced off for the gold medal. O’Hara ran wide on the home run and Bossche moved into a 1-0 lead and the Ostende racer sealed the title with a devastating run in the second heat.

Al-Abdulrazzaq Sees Off Kasza to Win in Runabout GP1

Al-Abdulrazzaq was unable to take on Khalifa Belselah because of the engine cylinder issues the Emirati suffered in his earlier Moto. The Kuwaiti ran solo and had a free passage into the final. Kasza lined up against Savelli in the second of the Runabout GP1 semi-finals. They took a win apiece on the first two sprints and Kasza sealed his final place in the tie-breaker.

That set up a showdown between Al-Abdulrazzaq and Kasza in the final with Savelli assured of third place before he ran his play-off alone on the course. The Kuwaiti drew first blood in heat one but he ran wide on heat two, slowed and the Hungarian drew level. But a fierce ‘Razzaq’ attack in heat three earned the Kuwaiti the world parallel slalom title.

Freestyle Moto 1 Victory for Rashid Al-Mulla

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Mulla had the advantage of going last in the evening’s timetable behind Italian rivals Massimo Accumolo and series leader Roberto Mariani. The other riders entertained the crowd between the different slalom run-off heats.

Qatar’s Bader Al-Nama impressed the panel of five judges and edged into the early lead by scoring 92 points for his night-time programme of somersaults and spins. Fellow countryman Salem Al-Kubaisi earned 63 points for his on-water programme but Abdulrahman Al-Sulaiti took a tumble, returned to the pontoon and restarted his set of spins and back-flips to then jump into the lead with 118 points.

David Dzhologua was towed off the course after technical issues at the start of his programme but still scored 99 points with a minute of his stint still to run. He earned 19 points for crowd entertainment alone. Qatar’s Bader Al-Abdullah rode through the pain barrier to take the lead with 181 points at the halfway point and that was sufficient to claim third place at the end of the session.

Former French amateur champion Steven Royer opened up with a 720° spin and a back flip and continued with a back-flip combination and finished with a couple of 360s to earn 134 points from the judges. Rome-based Accumolo started his programme strongly with transitions in to back flips and 180s and completed an action-packed schedule with a fountain to amass 178 points.

Defending European champion Mariani was the penultimate racer into the cauldron of competition. He started with a series of back flips, barrel rolls and spins and then followed up with 360s, 180s, spins, throws and a fountain to earn 226 points and the lead with just Al-Mulla to go.

The Emirati delivered a stunning array of opening spins, somersaults and flips and continued with a breathtaking array of high back flips and spins, much to the delight of the sizeable crowd. He earned 240 points to take the Moto 1 win from Mariani and Al-Abdullah and close the gap on Mariani to seven points in the World Championship.

Saturday Showdown Awaits

The third Runabout GP2 Asian Continental Championship Moto is first on the agenda on Saturday afternoon and precedes the final Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski GP1 Motos that will decide the outcome of the respective championships. Runabout GP1 and Freestyle contenders then take to the water for their second Motos that will draw a curtain on the season’s UIM-ABP Aquabike Circuit Pro World Championship with title fights remaining wide open in three of the four categories.