Wednesday, November 13: Karo Cup victory fell to Portugal’s Lino Araújo after the second Moto on stunning Lake Toba in Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon.

The European Endurance champion and defending Runabout GP1 World Champion François Medori stormed to a comfortable 1min 03.383sec win in the second Moto but another second place for Araújo gave him a perfect start in his quest to become the 2024 UIM-ABP Aquabike Endurance World Champion. Moto 1 winner Ruben Jimenez Riquelme finished fifth behind Frenchman Teddy Pons and Japan’s Isahai Hajime and secured the runner-up spot in the Karo Cup from third-placed Pons.

Karo Cup winner Araújo said: “I did it. This is the first day. I am here. The target for me was the top five. The beginning has been good. We will see tomorrow.”

Moto 2 winner Medori added: “This morning (Moto 1), I break my nozzle. The screw break and I could not finish the race. We fix it between the Motos. I am really happy with the win in Moto 2. There are four more Motos. We need to stay focused, score maximum points and we will see on Friday where we can finish the race.”

The large local crowd was entertained in the build up to the start and the parade lap by the on-water antics of Team Abu Dhabi’s Freestyle hot shot Rashid Al-Mulla. Several riders, including Medori, had carried out emergency work on their skis and engines before the second of the Motos that was held at Tongging in the Karo Regency on the northern sector of the vast volcanic lake.

Araújo stole a march on his rivals to lead from the regatta start to claim the hole shot from Medori, Pons, Hajime, Jimenez Riquelme and Aitzol Beristain. After the carnage and high rate of attrition in Moto 1, György Kasza, Johan Johansson, Scott Phillips, Lorenzo Benaglia, Trinity Ratat, Chen Shan, Lingga Kumara and Jun Ikoma were non-starters.

Medori overtook Araújo to hit the front of the 25-boat field on lap two and the Frenchman began to pull away from the Portuguese with Pons, Hijame and Jimenez Riquelme rounding off the early top five.

Medori increased his advantage to 17.142 seconds into lap four but second-placed Araújo remained on course to win the Karo Cup. Outside the top five, American Anthony Radetic held seventh and the impressive 15-year-old student Boanerges Ratag led the local contingent in 10th.

Pons began to apply the pressure on Araújo in the battle for second place but there was no-stopping Medori and his lead had grown to 23.582 seconds after six laps. Alberto Santini fell by the wayside on lap four and Slobodan Sobic was struggling at the rear of the field behind Lim Lucky Limanjaya.

The leading quintet held station into lap eight. Corsica-based Medori led by 29.379 seconds into lap 10 and stayed clear of trouble over the closing laps to secure the maximum 25 points and a comfortable heat win. Araújo confirmed Karo Cup success with the runner-up spot and Pons finished third with Hajime and Jimenez Riquelme wrapping up the top five.

Aitzol Beristain was sixth, Radetic finished seventh and Thai Permphon Teerapatpanich, the impressive Ratag and Cambodian racer Filin Saly rounded off the top 10.

Both Huang Rui and Cliff Ellmers suffered points deductions for missing turn buoys and there were 30-second penalties following start infringements for Sobic, Filin Saly and Hajime. Lim Lucky Limanjaya was penalised a similar amount for dangerous driving.

Tomorrow (Thursday), a transfer from Pangururan to Silalahi precedes the Dairi Cup with the two Motos starting at 11.30hrs and 14.00hrs (GMT +7) before the return transfer to base camp at Pangururan on the western shores of Samosir Island.