2014 UIM-ABP AQUABIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Aquabike Grand Prix of Qatar, March 6-8 – round 1
For immediate release
Saturday, March 8th, 2014
LEMOINE, PORET, MENARD AND ROK
FLORJANCIC SEAL AQUABIKE GLORY IN QATAR
· French girl Jennifer Menard makes it two heats from two in Doha
· Teddy Pons wins second Runabout heat; Al-Sharshani in third
· Rok Florjancic cruises to second successive Freestyle heat win
· Sultan Al-Kuwari confirms third place for host nation in Freestyle
DOHA (Qatar): The French trio of Teddy Pons, Jeremy Poret, Jennifer Menard and Slovenian Rok Florjancic won the second World Championship heats in the Runabout, Ski Division GP1, Ski Ladies GP1 and Freestyle categories at the UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix of Qatar on Doha Bay on Saturday.
This meant that Frenchman Cyrille Lemoine, Poret, Menard and Rok Florjancic won the four respective categories when the two heats were added together over the two days of adrenalin-charged action off Doha Corniche.
Races were hosted by the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), which runs under the presidency of His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani.
Qatar’s Sultan Al-Kuwari finished third for the second successive day behind the Slovenian Florjancic brothers in Freestyle to claim a similar position in the overall standings. Fellow countryman Waleed Al-Sharshani excelled in the Runabout category by finishing in a superb third position to confirm a similar place in the overall standings.
After losing his chance of success with a black flag disqualification on Friday, Kuwait’s defending world champion Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq needed a convincing performance in Runabout heat two and even then he was relying on Cyrille Lemoine failing to finish his heat and other front-runners having problems.
But it was not to be; Al-Abdulrazzaq pulled out after lap 11 of heat two and second position for Lemoine in that heat was sufficient for the Frenchman to claim the Runabout GP win. Pons won the thrilling heat by just 0.89sec, with Qatar’s Al-Sharshani a mere 3.36sec behind the flying French duo.
Qatar’s Ahmad Al-Dawas reached the chequered flag in sixth place and Mohammed Al-Haidus had a disappointing day and was two laps down in unlucky 13th.
Jeremy Poret had taken first blood in the Ski Division GP1 category in heat one from American Chris MacClugage and the Frenchman emerged at the front of the pack again after a thrilling nine-lap race on Saturday.
His American rival was forced out with one lap to run and Spanish runner-up Nachete Armillas claimed second spot at the UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix of Qatar by a single point from Portugal’s Tiago Sousa when the two heats were added together. But the Spaniard was later disqualified and his demise handed the position to Sousa.
Ludovic Caumont, running in Doha on a Qatar licence, duly finished fourth on the day behind the Italian Alberto Monti. Caumont also confirmed third overall in Ski Division GP1.
Jennifer Menard had comfortably beaten rival ladies Estelle Poret and Marta Sorrentino on Friday and she was back at the head of the trio again on Saturday. Menard finished eight laps of the Ski Ladies GP1 race over a circuit ahead of runner-up Poret and Sorrentino to claim victory in Qatar.
Nac and Rok Florjancic continued their Freestyle duel in heat two on Saturday. Rok had been the class of the field in heat one and the Slovenian continued where he left off on Friday with another polished salvo of spectacular spins, twists, somersaults and turns to amass a score of 98 points to take victory in Qatar.
Brother Nac was the best of the rest with 84 points for second place to confirm the runner-up spot and 81 points was sufficient for Qatar’s Sultan Al-Kuwari to claim third position for the second day. Fahad Al-Hameli, Bader Al-Abdullah and Abdullah Al-Langawi finished the second heat in sixth, eighth and ninth.
Attention at the QMSF now turns to next week’s UIM Nations Cup and UIM F1 H20 World Championship, with free practice for Qatar’s second UIM Nations Cup taking centre stage on Monday on Doha Corniche.
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail: ndppublicity@googlemail.com,
www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases). Twitter: @LordPerkins
www.qmsf.org
www.aquabike.net