DOHA: Estelle Poret, Oliver Koch Hansen, François Medori and Roberto Mariani clinched UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship titles in their final Motos at the Old Doha Port Grand Prix of Qatar on Saturday afternoon.
Poret prevailed in Ski Ladies GP1 for the first time and Koch Hansen took his maiden Ski GP1 title. Medori earned a third world Runabout GP1 title with a stunning Moto 3 win after a shell-shocked series leader Jéremy Perez hit technical trouble om the parade lap and was unable to start the final Moto on time.
Italian Roberto Mariani overcame a fierce late challenge from Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al-Mulla to seal the Freestyle crown.
Emirati Amer Hawair took the top step of the final Runabout GP2 Asian Continental Championship podium from Saudi Arabia’s Moto 3-winning Daoud Kaloti and Qatari Mohamed Abumaali.
Estelle Poret seals maiden Ski Ladies GP1 world title; Moto 3 win for Drange
Estelle Poret headed into her final Moto showdown with Jasmiin Ypraus defending a 15-point lead in the World Championship. Despite winning Moto 2, Benedicte Drange’s fuel pump failure in Moto 1 had ruled her out of challenging for the world title, although she had a 16-point cushion over Naomi Benini in the battle for third.
Drange started on pole but Jessica Chavanne claimed the hole shot from Emy Garcia, Drange, Poret, Ypraus and Benini. The current European champion held her lead into lap two and the top six held station with Virginie Morlaes, Sofie Borgström and Janina Johansson running behind. River Varner was a non-starter after trying to change an engine on her ski before the race with support from Tory Snyder’s team.
Drange and Poret passed Garcia and Drange began to apply the pressure on the leader, who was under investigation before falling off her bike and tumbling down the field on lap three. Drange continued to pull away from her rivals as the Moto progressed but champion-elect Poret was coming under pressure from title rival Ypraus.
