Friday, 6 September: Nacho Armillas says that he is itching to get back to racing when the Aquabike World Championship fires back up after its summer recess at the UIM-ABP Haier Grand Prix of Qingdao in China on 10-13 October.

 

The much anticipated full time return of the 26-year-old from Sant Cugat to the Ski GP1 ranks for the first time since a one off outing in Sharjah in December 2017 was put on hold when the Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the opening round in Portimao in May after injuring his back when competing in Australia. “My whole focus since the injury and operation has been to get back to racing as soon as possible,” said Team SDC rider Armillas. “I haven’t had a summer break just working all the time on my rehabilitation in the high performance centre in Sant Cugat (Barcelona) and working hard with the physio and my personal trainer. My levels of fitness are almost on point and now I am just really waiting for China and to get back to competing and challenging the top level.”

 

Armillas has come close in the past in his bid to win the Ski GP1 title since his world championship debut in 2010, taking the runners up spot in 2012 and finishing third overall in 2015 and 2016, but injury has been a factor and hindered his chances in the past. In 2013 he was sitting in second place in the standings when a back injury after an accident in an invitation race in China forced him to miss the final two rounds of the season and his 2017 campaigns ended early when he suffered a triple break of his left femur after crashing during the opening round of the European Championship in Zadar.