Thursday, 18 September: World titles in all four categories in the UIM-ABP Class Pro Aquabike World Championship will be decided at the Grand Prix of China, 3-4 October, on the River Liu in Liuzhou, the final event of what has been an enthralling and entertaining season.
Whatever the result in Runabout a new Champion will emerge with defending Champion Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq raising the white flag and missing the last event after a somewhat disastrous title defence. He failed to score points in Qatar missed round 2 in Italy through injury but salvaged some pride with a third and a fourth in Ibiza.
The race for the title is a two way fight between Teddy Pons and Jeremy Perez, Pons holding a slender seven point advantage over his countryman. Both have won heats and both have won GP titles this year and now go head to head in a winner takes all decider.
On paper and mathematically Qatar’s Mohammed Al Heidus can still win, but it will need Pons and Perez to suffer some sort of complete meltdown and fail to post points and Al Heidus to win both heats.
In Ski it is between the current leader Jeremy Poret and the man snapping at his heels Chris MacClugage. It is a fascinating scenario; Poret lifted the GP title in Qatar and has a 16 point cushion, but MacClugage is the man inform and in the ascendancy winning the last three heats and two GPs, but Poret knows that he just has to finish second to his American rival in both heats to clinch his third World title.
With Tiago Sousa another absentee in China the door is open for veteran racer Alberto Monti to close out third place.
Points’ leader Jennifer Menard looks to be on course to win in Ski Ladies but still has to be wary of young Estelle Poret, but the winner in Spain Sandra Fernandez Rodriguez may well hold the key if she takes points away from either or both of the front runners.
If Rok Florjancic maintains his perfect record and wins heat 1 he is the Champion again, his only rival is brother Nac. What everyone would like to see from ‘the Rok’ is the perfect score of 100. He has come close posting 98.5 and the reality of doing it is well within his grasp.