Thursday, 31 December: 2015 was a year to savour with the curtain falling on an enthralling season in Sharjah, the final act of a drama-filled championship played out to the very end, the last lap of the year determining the final title outcome.
Runabout GP1 saved its best till last; Jean-Baptiste Botti topped the points table going into the final race, he led at the white flag and for 13 and a half of 14 laps, the title was surely his, then disaster, broken piston game over. Youssef Al Abdulrazzaq seized the moment took the chequered flag, the GP win and the title.
Four riders claimed GP titles, five taking heat wins with the Middle East winning the battle over Europe; Qatar’s Thamer Al Darwish and Mohamed Al Heidus winning in Qatar and China, Khalifa Belselah taking overall honours for the UAE in Italy, with Kuwait’s Abdulrazzaq winning and walking off with the biggest prize in Sharjah.
Second and third overall for French duo Botti and Jeremy Perez was scant consolation; Perez’s title hopes also ending with a break in the final race, whilst the charismatic Corsican will wonder what he must do, falling at the final hurdle despite winning five of eight heats, his win from last place to first, stopping to salute the crowd then taking the chequered flag and win by over 50 seconds in race 2 in Italy the season highlight.
Ski GP1 saw the end of a dynastic reign and the ushering in of a new King, Austria’s Kevin Reiterer, who started the year as young pretender and lined up for the final GP as champion elect.
He was facing tough opposition; Jeremy and Mickael Poret looking to protect their five year run as champions, Nacho Armillas bidding for his first title and taking the opening title of the season on Doha bay.
In Castro in Italy Reiterer started his push for the crown, trading race wins with [Mickael] Poret and taking his first title, then followed that with the win double in China, a black flag for [Jeremy] Poret putting his title defence in big jeopardy.
All his [Reiterer’s] rivals faltered in race 1 in Sharjah, Poret J breaking, Armillas taking a big tumble and unable to recover, Poret M never really getting going, unlike Reiterer who cruised home to take his fourth win of the year and the title. The Poret reign was over and both the first to congratulate Reiterer, who ended the year in style with another win, another GP title and the coveted world championship in his debut season.
In the Ladies division four grabbed GP titles and race wins, Spain’s Sandra Fernandez stealing the overall win in Qatar, the race wins going to French duo, Jennifer Menard and Estelle Poret.
Italy saw the emergence as a real title contender of Swedish youngster Emma-Nellie Ortendahl grabbing her maiden race and Grand Prix title in the roughest conditions of the year, the 16-year-old hitting the front in the title race.
Poret grabbed another win but the bad luck that plagued her season left her still chasing that elusive title, Menard joining her on the podium.
In China a determined and fully fit Menard made it clear that she wasn’t going to let her title go without a fight, taking her first GP win of the year with two impressive victories and closing the point’ gap to Ortendahl, taking third behind Beatriz Curtinhal.
In Sharjah technical problems in race 1 all but ended Ortendahl’s dreams of winning the title, Menard now in control despite being relegated to fifth, the win going to Curtinhal ahead of Fernandez and a battling Marta Sorrentino.
Curtinhal rounded out her debut season with a second win and her first GP title to finish third in the overall championship standings, with Menard following her home to retain her crown, Ortendahl ending the year as runner-up.
In Freestyle Rok Florjancic produced a true champions’ performance in heat 2 to retain his crown after a shaky opener finishing behind his brother Nac and heat 1 winner Rashid Al Mulla.
Two points separated the Florjancic brothers as they headed into a winner-take-all decider, Rok producing what he described as possibly his best ever routine to take the win and keep his title.
2015 was a fitting celebration of the sport’s 21 years with over 80 competitors from 23 countries pulling on the prestigious UIM-ABP vest. Defending champions dug deep and new champions and a crop of talented young stars emerged, and all setting their sights on the title in 2016.
Congratulations to everyone who played their part and Happy New Year…..