MEDIA INFORMATION
2025 UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship
MOTO 1 SUCCESSES FOR ESTELLE PORET, BOSSCHE AND HAWAIR IN DOHA
Friday, October 31: Moto 1 wins in the Ski Ladies GP1, Ski Division GP1 and Runabout GP2 Asian Continental Championship Motos went to Estelle Poret, Quinten Bossche and Emirati Amer Hawair after a fascinating start to a hectic schedule of action at the Old Doha Port Grand Prix of Qatar on Friday morning.
Victory for Poret was a major boost for her World Championship challenge and enabled her to extend her lead over Jasmiin Ypraus to 13 points and over Benedicte Drange to 32 in the points’ standings with two Motos remaining.
She said: “I think it was the most difficult race of my life. I don’t know why. I was so tired at the beginning and, at the end, I win and I am happy. But I am not so happy with my ride today. I don’t’ know what happened. I took the blue split and she (Benedicte) passed me on the green split. I am happy to have a bigger lead in the World Championship but I need to change the way I ride this afternoon.”
Bossche led the Ski GP1 Moto from start-to-finish in his quest to secure Grand Prix success in Qatar, but the runner-up spot for Oliver Koch Hansen enabled the Dane to increase his UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship lead over Jéremy Poret to 13 points.
Bossche said: “Four wins from seven but I don’t really know what to say. A good job to Oliver. I am sure if he doesn’t break, he is going to be the World Champion this year. It’s a bit sour. It’s extremely rough and hot out there today. It’s very hot and humid.”
Koch Hansen added: “The race was incredibly hard. The start for me was not the best but I found a way and I came behind Quinten. I got close to him but for me I got the place and it worked out. The waves here were crazy. All over the place from the start.
Poret snatches Ski Ladies GP1 Moto win after Drange retires
The in-form Estelle Poret had pole for the first of the Ski Ladies GP1 races from Benedicte Drange, defending champion Jasmiin Ypraus, Naomi Benini and Jessica Chavanne.
Nine girls lined up in the heat of an October morning at the Old Port and Drange made the best start to claim the hole shot from Poret, Benini, Morlaes and Ypraus. Emy Garcia was a non-starter after the technical issues that plagued her ski at the end of qualifying.
Ypraus managed to pass Morlaes to snatch fourth place as River Varner, Chavanne, Janina Johansson and Sofie Borgström settled into the remaining places. Poret began to apply the pressure on Drange for the lead but the Norwegian was able to hold off her French rival through three laps with the rest of the girls holding their positions until Chavanne passed Varner to take sixth.
There was heartbreak for Drange on the next lap when the ski suddenly lost power and she ended up in the water. Her demise lifted Poret into the lead and Benini and Ypraus into the podium places ahead of Morlaes and a hard-charging Chavanne. Drange’s retirement lifted Varner, Borgström and Johansson into sixth, seventh and eighth.
Poret survived a late scare to snatch victory by just 1.939 seconds from Benini, Ypraus, Chavanne and Varner with Morlaes, Borgström and Johansson rounding off the finishers. Morlaes lost ground after incurring two 30-second penalties for missing the joker lap. The win was a major boost to Poret’s World Championship challenge.
Quinten Bossche storms to Ski GP1 Moto 1 success
World champion Quinten Bossche lined up on pole yet again for a World Championship Ski Division GP1 Moto with Jéremy Poret,
Kevin Reiterer and series leader Oliver Koch Hansen following close behind for the pontoon start after a short false start delay
Luckless Benjamin Scharff was forced to start at the rear of the field after he missed qualifying. The Frenchman is sharing a ski with Emy Garcia this weekend and it suffered an overheating turbine after Garcia had crossed the finish line in her qualifying stint.
Bossche took the hole shot from Jéremy Poret, Koch Hansen, Valentin Dardillat and Reiterer and was already four seconds ahead of Koch Hansen at the end of lap one. The Belgian’s lead grew to 5.315 seconds through lap two with Toshi O’Hara and Alex Barret running in sixth and seventh behind the leading quintet.
The leading duo began to edge away from the rest of the field with 17 seconds separating second-placed Koch Hansen from Jéremy Poret after four laps.
Bossche and Koch Hansen held on to take the top two places, albeit separated by 7.722 seconds at the chequered flag, with Jéremy Poret finishing third ahead of Reiterer and O’Hara. Dardillat, Morgan Poret, Anthony Beernaut, Barret and Matteo Benini rounded off the top 10 finishers.
Opening Runabout GP2 Asian Moto glory for Amer Hawair
Emirati Amer Hawair had pole position for the first of the Runabout GP2 Asian Continental Championship Motos that kickstarted the action at the Old Doha Port on Friday morning. He lined up ahead of Khalid Al-Maazmi, Saudi Arabia’s Daoud Kaloti and the Qatari trio of Mohamed Abumaali, Khalaf Al-Kuwari and Mahmoud Abumaali.
Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq had skipped qualifying to concentrate on grabbing pole for the first of the Runabout GP1 Motos and opted not to compete in the Moto.
Pole-sitter Hawair claimed the hole shot and began to edge away from Al-Maazmi and the three pursuing Qataris. Al-Kuwari was able to pass Al-Maazmi to grab second place for the host nation. He also grabbed the fastest lap but was under investigation for a course infringement.
There was no stopping the leading Emirati and he stormed through the remaining laps to win the Moto by 1.277 seconds with Al-Kuwari crossing the finish line in an unofficial second place ahead of Al-Maazmi. Mohamed and Mahmoud Abumaali finished fourth and fifth ahead of a distant Kalafi.
But Al-Kuwari was handed a two-lap penalty by race officials for course cutting and that pushed him down to sixth behind all his rivals. His misfortune lifted Al-Maazmi and Mohamed Abumaali into the remaining podium places behind Hawair.
Ends