Sharjah: Kevin Reiterer, Jennifer Menard and Yousuf Abdul Razzaq of Kuwait stole the limelight with the world crowns in the different categories as the 2015 UIM-ABP Aquabike Ski World Championship concluded at the Khalid Lagoon here late on Sunday.
The highlight of the evening was Abdul Razzaq snatching victory on the very last lap of the Runabout GP1 class when his challenger Jean Baptiste Botti broke down and waited helplessly on the side of the race course holding his head in his hands in disbelief.
As the 24 pilots set off for ultimate honours, it was Botti right in front with Abdul Razzaq hot in pursuit. Needing at least a third place to win the overall title, Botti did well to keep Abdul Razzaq at bay through most of the 14 laps of the race.
However, on the tenth lap the Kuwaiti came within 1.96 seconds of the leader forcing the Frenchman to further push his machine. That ultimately had a bearing on the final outcome as Botti broke down with just six bouys to clear and Abdul Razzaq cruised along without any pressure to take the win more than 19 seconds clear from Lars Akerblom of Sweden in third place.
Earlier, Reiterer denied the chasing French duo of Jeremy and Mikael Poret along with Spain’s Nacho Armillas to win the AB Ski Division title. Reiterer was in a class of his own as he won both the races yesterday and the 50 points on offer were more than enough to see the Austrian finish with 161 points and well clear of Jeremy Poret, who had to stay content with the runner-up crown with 111 points. Armillas ended in third overall with a retirement in the last race to finish with a seasonal tally of 106.
Spaniard Beatriz Curtinhal was by far the most impressive performer on the day as she came up with a superb performance while winning both the races held on Sunday. However, it was a bit too late to shake the upper order as the 50 points she gained saw her finishing in third overall as Menard finished second in the second race of the evening to take her tally to 138 points and successfully defend her world champion’s crown.
Going into the fourth and final round of the championship, it was Sweden’s Emma-Nellie Ortendahl in with a chance as she led by a narrow three points from Menard. But, the Swede finished in fourth and allowed the world title to slip out of her grasp.
However, it was Reiterer who was unstoppable during the day as he put an end to the reign of the Poret brothers, Mikael and Jeremy. The Austrian produced two flawless runs in both his races to notch the fourth win overall for the season and help himself to the world title.
RESULTS at the end of the fourth and final round – the Sharjah GP Aquabike World Championship that concluded at the Khalid Lagoon on Sunday:
Runabout GP1: 1. Yousuf Abdul Razzaq (Kuwait) 102 pts; 2. Jean Baptiste Botti (France) 102; 3. Jeremy Perez (France) 95; 4. Thamer Al Darwish (Qatar) 89; 5. Khalifa Belsaleh (UAE) 88; 6. Mohammad Al Heidus (Qatar) 84; 7. Lars Akerblom (Sweden) 71; 8. Didier Chabert (France) 59; 9. Andrezej Wisniewski (Poland) 52; 10. Waleed Al Sharsani (Qatar) 49.
Ski Division GP1: 1. Kevin Reiterer (Austria) 161 pts; 2. Jeremy Poret (France) 111; 3. Nacho Armillas (Spain) 106; 4. Mickael Poret (France) 105; 5. Alex Barret (France) 97; 6. Stian Schetlein (Norway) 87; 7. Tomaz Kete (Croatia) 64; 8. Raphael Maurin (France) 56; 9. Alberto Monti (Italy) 52; 10. Nicola Piscaglia (Italy) 43.
Ski Ladies GP1: 1. Jennifer Menard (France) 138 pts; 2. Emma-Nellie Ortendahl (Sweden) 123; 3. Beatriz Curtinhal (Spain) 121; 4. Estelle Poret (France) 86; 5. Sandra Fernandez (Spain) 85; 6. Marta Sorrentino (Italy) 74; 7. Kylie Ellmers (Russia) 71; 8. Jonna Borgstrom (Sweden) 70; 9. Sandra Borgstrom (Sweden) 24; 10. Nixin Yue (China) 21.
Freestyle: 1. Rok Florjancic (Croatia) 177 pts; 2. Nac Florjancic (Croatia) 170; 3. Roberto Mariani (Italy) 162; 4. Bader Al Abdullah (Qatar) 48; 5. Fahad Thani Al Hamli (Qatar) 36; 6. Rashid Al Mulla (UAE) 27; 7. Youle Ma (China) 26; 8. He Liu (China) 22.
-Ends
