Kuwait: Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Mulla is on the verge of a fourth world aquabikes title while Emma-Nellie Ortendahl refuses to give up hope of matching him at the Grand Prix of Kuwait.
Reigning freestyle champion Al Mulla followed up his pole position 24 hours earlier by winning moto 1 in the final round of the this year’s shortened UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship,
Once again outshining his biggest rival, Italy’s Roberto Mariani, the Emirati will now look to secure another world crown by stretching his brilliant winning sequence to 28 successive motos and 13 consecutive overall Grand Prix.
Team-mate Ortendahl arrived in Kuwait needing to wipe out fellow-Swede Jonna Borgstrom’s 16-point lead to secure a fourth Ski Ladies GP1 world title.
She reduced the margin by two points with second place in the first moto behind Estonia’s Jasmiin Ypraus, producing one smart overtaking move and keeping Borgstrom back in third.
Ortendahl then brought the gap down to nine points with a superb victory in moto 2 from Ypraus and Borgstrom and will go flat out for another win in the final moto.
Electrical problems
Borgstrom has the title within her grasp, but must avoid the kind of misfortunes which cost Ortendahl dearly in the opening round in Sardinia where she suffered electrical problems and ended up in the water following a collision.
Making his first appearance of this year’s championship, Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer was unable to start the first moto in Runabout GP1 because of mechanical problems.
He seemed to have put those issues behind him when he powered his way into second position in moto 2, before his ski broke down on the seventh lap as Kuwait’s world champion Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq clinched back-to-back victories.
