Thursday, September 21: As the countdown continues to the eagerly-anticipated return of endurance racing to the UIM-ABP World Aquabike calendar on spectacular Lake Toba in Indonesia in late November, entries have started to filter in for what promises to be a sensational three days of racing on November 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
Following on from the success of the inaugural UIM F1H2O Kopiko Grand Prix of Indonesia in late February, the volcanic lake will play host to endurance racing and the climax to the UIM-ABP AquabikeWorld Championship in November.
Several of the sport’s top stars have already committed to taking part in the three endurance races in Lake Toba, with entries received thus far from the USA, Hungary, UAE, Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, Kuwait, New Zealand, Cambodia, China and Japan.
Anthony Radetic is a professional paraplegic racer, alpine skier and former US Army Blackhawk pilot. The 44-years-old, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, now lives in Alabama and will represent the United States of America. He champions the cause for disabled people in extreme sports and competed in both the 2014 and 2016 Invictus Games.
The experienced Rashed Al-Tayer and Khalifa Belselah will represent the United Arab Emirates. Al-Tayer has one of the most impressive curriculum vitae’s in global powerboat racing and has represented his country and Team Abu Dhabi in Class 1, P1 Offshore, XCAT, F2 and the UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship. Belselah has represented the Skydive Dubai Jet Ski Team and the Victory Team and competed alongside and against Al-Tayer in the Runabout GP1 category in the UAE International Aquabike Championship.
The State of Kuwait will be represented by the experienced duo of Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq and Rashed Al-Dawas. Al-Abdulrazzaq, 43, competes in the Runabout GP1 category in the UIM-ABP Aquabike series and was crowned World Champion eight times between 2013 and 2020. Al-Dawas is an experienced racer who won the super-stock category in the 2022 World Championships on Lake Havasu in Arizona and is a former competitor in the Pro Marathon category at competitions such as the UIM Qatar Cup.
Two French racers currently appear on the entry for the endurance races, with legendary François Medoriregistering alongside Jean-Bruno Pastorello. Medori, 37, was born in Corsica, is a doctor of pharmacy and competes in the Runabout GP1 category. He started racing way back in the noughties and was crowned World Runabout GP1 Champion for the first time in 2012 after numerous successes in France and the KaruJet series. Last year’s runner-up currently leads the category in the UIM-ABP World Championship by eight points after claiming two Moto wins in Sardinia.
Pastorello was crowned ‘King of the Three Continents’ in 2022 following successes in the Pro-Am Endurance Open section of the WGP#1 Waterjet World Series in Thailand, Poland and the USA. A three-time WGP#1 World Cup champion (2017, 2019 and 2021), Pastorello is also a two-time WGP#1 World Series champion.
Regular aquabike series competitor Gyorgy Kasza represents Hungary in the Runabout GP1 category of the UIM-ABP World and European Continental Championships and currently holds seventh in the world points’ standings after finishing second to Martin Doulik Junior in this year’s European series, despite winning four of the six motos in Hungary and Lithuania. Cseke Zsolt also represents the landlocked European country.
Regular Runabout GP1 racer Alejandro Molina Miranda will fly the Spanish flag in the endurance races alongside Swedish rival Johan Johansson.
While Ou Moeut Saly represents Cambodia and Chen Shan and Hajime Isahai look to put China and Japan in the spotlight, Australia-based kiwi Kylie Ellmers is the first female to register for the endurance races. The 49-year-old is a professional racer and has earned multiple national titles in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, in addition to seven American titles and a career-best fourth in the UIM World Championship in 2017.
Forty-nine-year-old Italian racer Michele Cadei rounds off the initial batch of entries for the exciting return of endurance racing with more names expected before the final list is announced in the coming days….