Monday, May 27: The 2024 UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship resumes with the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy in the Sardinian city of Olbia on June 21st-23rd. The popular European venue has been hosting a round of the UIM-ABP series since 2018 and has become a firm favourite with competitors.
Back in 2011, the Sardinian hamlet of Arbatax hosted the second round of a four-event World Championship before the racing action moved to the northeast coast of the island to the beautiful town of Golfo Aranci in 2012.
Frenchman François Medori prevailed in the Runabout GP1 category on that occasion with a pair of Moto wins on his way to the World Championship title. Jeremy Poret also completed a win double in Ski Division GP1 and Julie Bulteau and Pija Sumer shared a win apiece in the Ski Ladies GP1 category. Rok Florjancic dominated the Freestyle programme.
Aquabike racing headed on to the Italian mainland in 2013 and remained there until Olbia hosted its first event in 2018. That race formed round two of a three Grand Prix calendar that also included a visit to Gallipoli in southern Italy and the finale in Sharjah.
A pair of Runabout GP1 wins gave Jeremy Perez a maximum 50 points at the Grand Prix of the Mediterranean and the Frenchman went on to narrowly beat Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq to the world title. Kevin Reiterer and Krista Uzare topped the standings in Ski Division and Ski Ladies GP1 in Olbia and Rashid Al-Mulla prevailed in Freestyle. Grand Prix wins in the four minor Ski Division and Runabout categories went to Benjamin Scharff, Barnabas Szabo, Samuel Johansson and Philip Salobir.
Olbia hosted round two of a four-event calendar in 2019 and Al-Abdulrazzaq, Reiterer, Emma-Nelli Ortendahl and Al-Mulla earned success in the major four categories. Sultan Al-Hammadi, Gonçalo Oliveira Rodrigues. Marcus Jorgensen and Salobir came out on top in the secondary classes.
Global travel restrictions put paid to racing in Olbia in 2020 but aquabiking returned to the island in September 2021 with the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy. Perez, Reiterer, Jonna Borgström and Al-Mulla were triumphant in the major four classes and minor honours went to Mattias Reinass, Mattias Siimann and Clara Muchembled.
Olbia hosted the third and final round of the 2022 World Championship, where Jorgensen, Valentin Dardillat, Jasmiin Ypraus and Al-Mulla were crowned as world champions in the major four categories with Grand Prix wins falling to Medori, Dardillat, Ypraus and Al-Mulla. Success in the minor classes went to Rodrigues, Siimann, Davide Pontecorvo, Naomi Benini and Reinass.
Last year, Olbia hosted the opening round of the World Championship and Medori, Oliver Koch Hansen, Jessica Chavanne and Roberto Mariani stole the headlines in Runabout GP1, Ski Division and Ski Ladies GP1 and Freestyle. Rodrigues, Reinass, Manuel Reggiani, Alejandro Prats Palau and Nikola Dryjakova earned success in the other categories.