News
Saturday, October 3: The rain eased up for the final Moto of the 2026 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship’s opening round in Shanghai, China. Following a busy two days of racing, the winners of the Grand Prix of Shanghai-China were crowned, setting them up to defend their lead in the standings for the forthcoming Grand Prix in Olbia, Italy.
Runabout GP1
With his distinctive neon sleeves, Gyorgy Kasza was unmissable as he flew ahead of his competitors to take the holeshot ahead of Francois Medori and then Samuel Johansson. A strong start from Robin Laforge saw him take fourth place by the first lap, ahead of Jeremy Perez in fifth place. Kasza kept his pace up once settled into the race, creating a gap of 5.053 seconds between himself and Medori by the second lap.
Kasza’s lead continued to grow, extending to 14.821 seconds by the fourth lap, meaning the real battle took place further down the field, as Johansson sought to hold onto third place from an insurgent Laforge who closed their gap to 2.017 seconds. But Laforge could not afford to get carried away with his offensive action, as he faced a challenge to his own position by Perez, who completed the fifth lap just 2.445 seconds behind him, with Perez in turn having to watch his own back, as Pierre Savelli came within 1.911 seconds of him by the eighth lap.
As tight as the bunched up riders battling for third place were, none found a suitable gap as the race went on, getting closer and closer to one another but never quite doing enough as each rider displayed their defensive prowess. This meant that the positions they settled into by the second lap were the ones they crossed the finish line in, albeit with only a few seconds separating each rider as they ended the race. Kasza, meanwhile, had his most dominant win to date, crossing the line 32.474 seconds ahead of second-placed Medori, and over a minute ahead of third-placed Johansson.
His three Moto wins gave Kasza the Grand Prix win, and gives the Hungarian his best chance yet of winning his first World Championship. Medori still remains in strong contention to retain his world title, finishing the weekend in second place with 64 points. Johansson narrowly edged out Perez for the final podium place, collecting 58 points over the three Motos to Perez’s 56 points.
Ski GP1
As with every other Moto thus far this year, Quinten Bossche flew off the start and utterly dominated the race, giving no other rider the opportunity to come close. Soshi Sato had the next best start to Moto 3, moving up from his fifth place starting position into second place after the first lap. This pushed Jeremy Poret into third place and Valentin Dardillat into fourth place, as the two riders battled it out to get the upper hand following their first two Motos where they each gained 42 points. Dardillat therefore immediately started putting pressure on Poret, trailing him closely throughout the second lap and momentarily edging ahead on numerous turns but not finding the pace to confirm an overtake.
Sato’s great start was short lived in the end, as he dropped back from second place to sixth on the fourth lap, and then dropped out of the race the following lap due to mechanical issues with his bike. Meanwhile, after five laps Bossche had already developed a lead of 29.518 seconds, once again making him untouchable by the rest of the riders.
Dardillat continued to pressure Poret, but never found an opening, finishing the race in third, with Poret in second, and Bossche winning once again, this time by another enormous margin of 48.575 seconds, and in doing so ensuring that he left Shanghai with the full 75 points available from the weekend’s racing. His second pace finish in Moto 3 meant Poret secured the second place spot overall for the Grand Prix, with Dardillat occupying the final podium spot in Shanghai.
Ski Ladies GP1
Jessica Chavanne continued her excellent form from Moto 2 into the final race of the weekend as she shot off the start to take an early lead, which she then held throughout the Moto. Chavanne headed straight for the outside split, whereas Estelle Poret and Benedicte Drange directly behind her opted for the inside split. Despite the outside split having been the more challenging of the two throughout the weekend, Chavanne managed to hold onto her lead and emerge from the splits ahead of Poret and Drange. Meanwhile, a slow start by Jasmiin Ypraus saw her emerge from the first lap in fifth place, behind the top three riders and Jonna Borgstrom who slotted into fourth place.
Chavanne quickly built up a strong lead of 9.607 seconds after getting the race’s best lap time of 1:48.939 seconds in the first lap. The standings at the front of the race were then thrown open in the second lap, as a fall from Poret saw her drop down to sixth place, and then seventh in the following lap after an overtake from Naomi Benini. This put Drange securely into second place, with Borgstrom behind her in third. Ypraus started to close down on Borgstrom, reducing the gap to 2.234 seconds after three laps, but her charge was cut short after Emy Garcia overtook her on the splits in the following lap to take fourth place.
Garcia continued her overtaking streak on the sixth lap, taking a position from Borgstrom to move into third place. The race’s positions remained stable for the rest of the race, with Chavanne cruising to the checkered flag with a lead of 7.247 seconds. Drange maintained her second place spot, and Garcia crossed the line in third, but was dropped to seventh place in the race standings owing to a 30 second penalty for an anticipated start at the beginning of the race. Borgstrom was therefore bumped up to third place, with Ypraus in fourth, Benini in fifth, and current World Champion Poret in sixth.
With her two Moto wins, Chavanne took the Grand Prix win with 72 points, ahead of Poret who finished the weekend on 62 points. Ypraus took the final podium place on her return to China, where she finished in second place in 2019 the last time Aquabike raced in the country.
Freestyle
Defending World Champion Roberto Mariani opened his routine with five consecutive backflips. What followed was his usual showmanship as he performed a combination of 360s, backflips and reverse-spins that was awarded 183 from the judges. Aquabike rookie Demi Morgan went next, with a powerful and energetic routine sure to make her a fan favourite going forward. For her strong routine, the judges awarded Morgan 187 points. Last to go was Rashid Al Mulla, who performed a polished routine with a constant flurry of tricks that proved his endurance as well as acrobatic abilities. The judges gave him 223 points, and with it the Moto 2 win.
His two Moto wins gave Al Mulla the overall Grand Prix victory, meaning he took home another Chinese Grand Prix title following his win the last time Aquabike competed in China in 2019. On her Aquabike debut, Morgan already secured a podium finish, taking second place and proving herself at the very top of the global Freestyle competition. Current World Champion Mariani took the third place on the podium, putting the pressure on for the next round in Olbia, which last year secured him his world title after an exemplary performance from the Italian.