*Reiterer wins twice to maintain unbeaten run in SKI GP1 in Sharjah
*Al Mulla the star of the show in Freestyle
Tuesday, 19 December, Sharjah (UAE): A spectacular day of racing on Khalid Lagoon was capped off with Quinten Bossche, Emma-Nellie Ortendahl and Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq sealing the world titles in Ski and Runabout, with the final Moto of the UIM-ABP Grand Prix of Sharjah on Wednesday.
Bossche’s first Ski GP1 world title tops a remarkable first season on the UIM-ABP tour for the young Belgian rider from Ostende, but it was Kevin Reiterer who dominated both races and maintained his perfect record in Sharjah winning both of today’s Motos to move up into second spot in the championship standings.
In both Motos it was Reiterer leading from the start and holding of Bossche, with Gabor Szabo picking up his best result of the season finishing third in Moto 1 and Stian Schjetlein taking third in Moto 2.
In the Ladies division it was all about Sweden’s Emma-Nellie Ortendahl who was in a class of her own winning both Motos comfortably to successfully defend her title.
She led from pole in Moto 1 and stretched out her lead lap-by-lap to take an effortless win by 25 seconds, second place going to Jonna Borgstrom who passed a struggling Estelle Poret on lap six with Krista Uzare also going passed Poret to take third place, Sofie Borgstrom coming home in fifth ahead of Katrin Nilbe.
Ortendahl sealed her second successive title cruising home in Moto 2 by almost 30 seconds and finishing ahead of Krista Uzare and Kylie Ellmers.
It was a disappointing day for Estelle Poret who saw her title hopes fade completely after being disqualified in Moto 2 and there was also disappointment for Moto 1 runner-up Jonna Borgstrom who crashed heavily on the start lap.
In Runabout, defending champion Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq made no mistakes winning both Motos in style.
In Moto 1 he trailed his title rival James Bushell for five laps before making the telling pass and running out a comfortable winner to take victory by over 25.09s. Jeremy Perez maintained his run of good form with his third top three finish in as many outings, finishing in front of another title hopeful Lars Akerblom. Poland’s Andrzej Wisniewski produced by far his best performance of the season with a great drive to take fifth, Johan Johansson completing the top six.
In the second Moto Abdulrazzaq led from start to finish too seal his fourth world title with Sweden’s Lars Akerblom in second ahead of James Bushell. Jeremy Perez was reinstated to fourth place after winning his appeal after being given a penalty lap for missing a buoy, with Andrzej Wisniewski rounding out a great day with another fifth, Patrice Pellier in sixth.
Rashed Al Mulla was once again the star in Freestyle scoring 90 points and leads the Grand Prix standings with maximum points heading into tomorrow’s final Moto. Nac Forjancic is in second place, with Roberto Mariani in third.
MOTO 1&2 RESULTS:
SKI GP1 – top 3..
MOTO1
1. K Reiterer (aut)
2. Q Bossche (bel) + 6.58s
3. J Poret (fra) + 43.05s
MOTO2
1. K Reiterer (aut)
2. Q Bossche (bel) + 1.54s
3. S Schjetlein (nor) + 51.35s
SKI GP1 LADIES – top 3..
MOTO1
1. EN Ortendahl (swe)
2. J Borgstrom (swe) + 25.14s
3. K Uzare (lat) + 30.74s
MOTO2
1. EN Ortendahl (swe)
2. K Uzare (lat) + 28.67s
3. K Ellmers (nzl) + 56.05s
RUNABOUT GP1 – top 3..
MOTO1
1. Y Al Abdulrazzaq (kuw)
2. J Bushell (gbr) + 25.09s
3. J Perez (fra) + 49.43s
MOTO2
1. Y Al Abdulrazzaq (kuw)
2. L Akerblom (swe) + 7.41s
3.J Bushell (gbr) + 11.58s
FREESTYLE – top 3..
MOTO1
1. R Al Mulla (uae) – 93pts
2. N Florjancic (slo) – 85pts
3. R Mariani (ita) – 78pts
MOTO2
1. R Al Mulla (uae) – 90pts
2. N Florjancic (slo) – 80pts
3. R Mariani (ita) – 76pts
For full classifications/results: http://aquabike.net/results
[Moto 3 of the UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix of Sharjah will be streamed live on aquabike.net]