Friday, July 12: Aquabike Promotion has now finalised the dates and race locations for the three rounds of the 2024 UIM-ABP Aquabike Endurance World Championship, which will take place for the second successive year on Lake Toba in Indonesia.

The Karo Cup will be the opening round on November 13th and will see riders transferring from Samosir to the village of Tongging before tackling two 35-minute endurance races, starting at 11.30hrs and 14.00hrs (local time), respectively. Competitors will then carry out a return transfer to the overnight halt in Samosir.

The second day sees riders competing for the Dairi Cup on November 14th. Again, they will set out on a transfer section from Samosir to the race venue at Silalahi. A pair of 35-minute races, starting at the same time as the Karo Cup Motos, will precede a second return to Samosir.

Racers will then compete for the Simalungun Cup on November 15th. They will be based out of the town of Parapat on the edge of Lake Toba and will take the start of the two Motos at 10.30hrs and 13.30hrs, respectively. The Simalungun Cup replaces last year’s Samosir Cup and is named after the regency seat in northern Sumatra that was formerly known as Pematatangsiantar before being made into an independent city in 1986.

The new venue will enable the local community to showcase yet another stunning location on Lake Toba, as the Government continues in its quest to promote tourism through sport at one of the most breathtaking venues on earth.

French veteran Jean Bruno Pastorello is the defending World Champion, having won the title by five points on Lake Toba last November. American racer Anthony Radetic. Kuwaiti Rashed Al-Dawas and Emirati Rashed Al-Tayer were closely matched in second, third and fourth of the 22 riders who scored points.

Aquabike Promotion is expecting a number of Indonesian riders will compete in the three legs of this year’s World Endurance Championship.

The final round of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship will be based out of Samosir on November 16th and 17th. The venue will host events in parallel slalom, in addition to the concluding Motos in the Ski Division GP1, Ski Ladies GP1, Runabout GP1 and Freestyle disciplines.