Dubai
Both teams from the UAE will be action over the weekend at the Grand Prix of the Mediterranean — Round Two on the 2018 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship to be held in Olbia, Italy.
Victory Team’s Kevin Reiterer will be joined by Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Mulla as the duo tries to consolidate their position at the top of the overall standings in their respective race categories.
In last weekend’s opening round in Gallipoli, Italy, Reiterer won the first moto and came in second in his Ski Division GP1 class despite a crash in the second race to remain tied for the top spot along with Frenchman Raphael Maurin with an identical 45 points. Al Mulla was smooth in both his outings as he remains at the summit in the Freestyle category with 50 points, leaving the Italian pair of Roberto Mariani and Alberto Camerlengo in the next two positions with 40 and 32 points respectively.
“I am a bit sore still from the crash last weekend. But I have been doing a lot of stretching and working out to get ready for the second round this week. We will be testing tomorrow to ensure our ski is ready for the race,” Reiterer told Gulf News from Olbia.
“Last week we had a taste of what is to follow as the season progresses. The competition has got even tougher, but we are ready for the challenge where we can expect flat water conditions once again. We need the points and we will be there for sure,” the 25-year-old Austrian added.
The Slovenian pair of Nak and Roc Floranjcic missed out on the opening race last week and that enabled the 31-year-old Al Mulla to card his eighth consecutive heat triumph, third successive Grand Prix win and storm into a ten-point championship lead over world number one Mariani.
Olbia is a coastal city in north-eastern Sardinia and features a historic port and a main ferry port on an island in the bay. It thrives on the tourism industry.
The weekend’s racing is being organised under the auspices of the UIM and the Federazione Italiana Motonautica and Aquabike Promotion Ltd.
Standings
(Freestyle) 1. Rashid Al Mulla (UAE) 50pts; 2. Roberto Mariani (Italy) 40; 3. Alberto Camerlengo (Italy) 32.
(Ski Division GP1) 1. Kevin Reiterer (UAE) 45pts; 2. Raphael Maurin (France) 45; 3. Mickael Poret (France) 29.
