Thursday, August 29: Aquabike Promotion has released further details of the entries so far received for the 2024 UIM-ABP Aquabike Endurance World Championship, taking place on Lake Toba in Indonesia on November 13th-15th.
Thirteen riders from Europe, one from the USA, two entries from New Zealand, one from Australia and a further four from Asia are making their preparations for the second Sumatra showdown, although the field could still be swelled yet further by additional riders from Thailand and the Middle East.
The in-form 2023 UIM-ABP Runabout GP1 World Champion and recently crowned European Endurance champion François Medori may well start as the favourite for success. But the list of European riders also includes Medori’s 41-year-old Easy Rider team boss and racing legend Teddy Pons, in addition to Portugal’s Lino Araújo, who won one of the European Endurance Motos in Vichy back in July. Pons is a multiple French, European and World Champion across a multitude of racing disciplines, including Runabout GP1, Speed and Slalom.
Serbian Slobodan Sobic clinched the European GP2 Endurance series in France and he will run under an Italian licence with the likes of Michele Cadei (fourth in the 2024 European Endurance Championship), Lorenzo Benaglia, Alberto Santini and Ezio Lucchese. Further European interest comes from the Spanish duo of Ruben Jimenez Riquelme and Aitzol Beristain, Hungary’s György Kasza, Swede Johan Johansson and Portugal’s Anderson Dos Santos Gouveia.
Jimenez Riquelme finished as runner-up to Medori in the recent UIM-ABP European Endurance Championship, his cause helped by two second-place finishes in the last two Motos on the Allier River in France.
Kylie and Cliff Ellmers will represent New Zealand and Queensland-based Scott Phillips – the Australian Pro Open Runabout Endurance champion - makes the trip across the Timor Sea and the Indian Ocean to represent Australia. The experienced Jun Ikoma and Isahal Hajime have entered under the Japanese flag.
Permphon Teerapatpanich and his sister will compete in Indonesia from neighbouring Thailand, while American all-rounder Anthony Radetic wraps up the current list of confirmed participants.
As was the case for the inaugural event in November 2023, this year’s UIM-ABP World Aquabike Endurance Championship will be fought out over six Motos and three days of racing on volcanic Lake Toba.
Riders will compete for the Karo Cup over two heats from the village of Tongging on November 13th and then move on to the towns of Silalahi and Parapat to race for the Dairi and Simalungun Cups on November 14th and 15th.