Emirati is aquabikes freestyle champion again after extending superb winning sequence at Grand Prix Sharjah
Photo: Simon Palfrader Editorial use only
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Mulla clinched a second successive world aquabikes freestyle title with room to spare at the Grand Prix of Sharjah today.
The Emirati will officially be crowned on Friday night after extending his remarkable winning sequence to ten Grand Prix in the final round of the 2019 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship.
After exhaust problems the previous day interrupted his qualifying routine, Al Mulla shrugged off further engine issues to win today’s first of two motos and move 25 points clear of his nearest challenger, Italy’s Roberto Mariani.
Needing only a single point to retain his title, Al Mulla made sure a few hours later by winning his 23rd successive moto, with the final moto of the season to follow on Friday afternoon.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer, meanwhile saw his hope of a first world aquabikes title effectively ended by a repeat of yesterday’s engine problems which resulted in him starting this morning’s first Runabout GP1 moto in 25th place.
Al Tayer powered his way up to seventh position over the first five laps before the engine died, dropping him from joint second to sixth in the championships standings.
Another powerful surge in the second moto took him from the back of the field up to fourth with two laps remaining, but a one lap penalty for missing a buoy dropped him to 14th at the finish.
Denmark’s Marcus Jorgensen won the moto to take a six-point lead from defending champion Jeremy Perez of France after previous leader Andrzej Wisniewski of Poland was disqualified along with Kuwait’s Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq for riding in the wrong direction.
Runabout GP1 championship standings
1 MARCUS JORGENSEN DK 140
2 JEREMY PEREZ FR 134
3 SAMUEL JOHANSSON SE 133
4 ANDRZEJ WISNIEWSKI PL 122
5 YOUSEF AL ABDULRAZZAQ KW 105
6 RASHED AL TAYER UAE 104
7 JOHAN JOHANSSON SE 100
8 ANTON PANKRATOV EE 91
9 LINO ARAUJO PT 70
10 CHRISTOPHE AGOSTINHO PT 68
Freestyle championships standings
1 RASHID AL MULLA UAE 200 – champion
2 ROBERTO MARIANI IT 170
3 SERGEY CHEMEZOV RU 151
4 JAROSLAV TIRNER CZ 148
5 PAULO NUNES PT 117
6 NIELS WILLEMS BE 71
7 ALEXANDER KURAMSHIN RU 63
8 VLADISLAV VOROBEV RU 51
9 YASSINE FADLI AE 30
10 ALBERTO CAMERLENGO IT 29