Runabout GP1

Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq in Runabout GP1 – Pic credit Aquabike Official

Saturday, 3 June, PORTO CESAREO (Italy): Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq left it late before hitting the front to take victory in Moto 1 at the UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix of Italy.

The defending Runabout GP1 World Champion trailed pole sitter James Bushell and Lars Akerblom from the start and needed seven laps before passing Akerblom to move in to second place and then set his sights on the leader.

His opportunity came when the lead duo hit a gaggle of backmarkers and Bushell struggled to cut his way through, with Abdulrazzaq making the telling pass on lap 13 and going on to take the chequered flag and win by over 15 seconds.

Akerblom lost ground but held on to take third place with Jeremy Perez moving up from being in ninth place at the end of lap one to take fourth ahead of Johan Johanson and Markus schick.

Ski Gp1

Jeremy Poret in SKI GP1- Pic credit Aquabike Official

Saturday, 3 June, PORTO CESAREO (Italy): Victory for Jeremy Poret in Ski GP1 at the UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix of Italy was sealed almost immediately, after a brilliant start gave the defending world champion the upper hand in Moto 1.

Starting form P3, Poret got the jump on pole-sitter Raphael Maurin and Stian Schjetlein and never looked back, leading from start-to-finish to run out the winner by a narrow margin after a late charge by Schjetlein.

With Poret out front the chase was initially led by Maurin, but his challenge eventually faded, dropping back and his race coming to a premature end on lap 6. Schjetlein and Quinten Bossche traded places mid race, with Schjetlein winning the battle and then setting about chasing down the race leader, closing the gap considerably but running out of laps and settling for second place.

Bossche’s third place completed a memorable day for the Belgian youngster after winning both Moto’s in GP3 earlier in the day, with Mickael Poret overcoming a back injury to take fourth ahead of Daniel Svae Andersen and Morgan Poret.

Ladies Ski GP1

Emma-Nellie Ortendahl – Pic credit Aquabike Official

Saturday, 3 June, PORTO CESAREO (Italy): Defending World Champion Emma-Nellie Ortendahl needed four laps before stamping her authority in the opening Moto of the year at the UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix of Italy to eventually run out a comfortable winner by 21.65s.

In a highly entertaining Moto it was Kylie Ellmers on her new ski who grabbed the early advantage to lead from Estelle Poret, with an unusually slow starting Ortendahl in third.

Ortendahl moved into second spot after a mistake by Poret on lap 2 and a lap later overhauled Ellmers and going on to take a comfortable victory. “I was a little cautious at the start and the on the long run I got squeezed a little and lost ground,” said Ortendahl. “But I soon got into my rhythm and was able to make up places and get to the front.”

Despite losing the lead Ellmers’ performance, on a relatively untried Ski was impressive and was unchallenged in second and went on to take her best result on the UIM-ABP tour.

Poret’s tumble saw her drop to fourth behind Sofie Borgstrom, but she regained the place to secure third spot when Borgstrom also went down momentarily, then hanging on to finish ahead of her elder sister Jonna by just over a second, with UIM-ABP debutant Krista Uzare coming home in sixth.