Dubai: Teams from the UAE were in the limelight as they bagged top honours in watersports action held at two separate locations in Europe over the weekend.
Leading the surge was Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Mulla as he completed a clean sweep in the Freestyle category at the opening round of the 2018 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship by winning Sunday’s Moto 2 in Gallipoli, Italy. Al Mulla had ended at the top of the standings during Saturday’s first Moto as well, to now lead the overall standings with 89 points.
The Team Abu Dhabi rider is followed by world No. 1 Roberto Mariani with 75 points, while fellow Italian Alberto Camerlengo is in third with 65 points.
Dubai-based Victory Team also tasted success with their new signing Kevin Reiterer from Austria taking second place in the second Moto of the Ski Division GP1 to stay tied at the top of the overall standings with 45 points alongside Frenchman Raphael Maurin, while a second French rider Mickael Poret is in third with 29 points.
Reiterer, one of the recent acquisitions of Victory Team earlier this summer, had opened with a win in Moto One on Saturday evening. In Sunday’s second race, the 25-year-old Austrian was in the lead with Maurin on his tail after starting from fourth place. But the French pilot was simply too strong on the evening as he hit the front on the very second lap and finish way ahead of the chasing pack led by Reiterer an impressive 39.78 seconds away.
Reiterer followed the leader home to give Victory Team a maiden podium, with Poret completing a very good weekend on his Bullett V3 to again be the best of the non-Kawasaki shod riders. The next round of the competition will head further south-east to neighbouring Olbia from June 1-3.
Meanwhile, in the Grand Prix of Lithuania — the opening round of the UIM F2 World Championship — defending champion Rashid Al Qamzi got his title defence off to a modest start with a fourth place in Sunday’s race. Winning the round was Italy’s Alberto Comparato in his DAC-built boat with a time of 41 minutes, 14.92 seconds, leaving home driver Edgaras Riabko in second and Germany’s Stefan Hagin completed the podium even as Al Qamzi came in fourth.
Victory Team had featured two drivers — 2017 F4 world champion Mansour Al Mansouri and Khalfan Suhail Al Muhairi — but both did not manage to start the race due to technical issues. The second round of the championship will be held in Aalborg, Denmark from June 15-17.
Overall standings at the 2018 UIM-ABP Grand Prix of Italy after the opening round in Gallipoli:
Freestyle: 1. Rashid Al Mulla (UAE) 89pts; 2. Roberto Mariani (Italy) 75; 3. Alberto Camerlengo (Italy) 65; 4. Paolo Nunes (Portugal) 56; 5. Alexander Kuramshin (Russia) 32.
Ski Division GP1: 1. Kevin Reiterer (Austria) 45pts; 1. Rapahel Maurin (France) 45; 3. Mickael Poret (France) 29; 4. Stian Schjetlein (Norway) 24; 5. Ulrik Berntsen (Norway) 20.
