MEDIA INFORMATION
2026 UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship
CAN ANYONE STOP THE MARIANI/AL-MULLA DOMINATION IN FREESTYLE?
Wednesday, March 11: Italian veteran Roberto Mariani and Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Mulla have been the dominant forces in the Freestyle discipline for a number of seasons since the retirement of the Slovenian Florjancic brothers.
Mariani has been the driving force in the UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship, in addition to providing a stern challenge to Al-Mulla in the World Championship. Last year, the Rome biker retained his European title in convincing style with seven victories out of eight Motos that were held in Poland, Portugal, Hungary and France. That gave Mariani 197 points out of a possible 200 and a 25-point cushion in the rankings.
His nearest challenger in the European series was fellow countryman Massimo Accumulo, who earned six second places and two thirds during the season. The only freestyler able to beat Mariani was the Slovenian Domen Kerman, who entered just the Hungarian round of the series and took a first and second place, missing out on Grand Prix success on the tie-breaker.
Portuguese airline pilot Paulo Nuñes has been a regular on the European scene, but has not been able to make the break through into challenging Mariani for the top step of the podium. He finished third in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
It’s the World Championship where the main rivalry exists between Mariani and Al-Mulla. The Emirati has got the better of the Italian on the majority of occasions in the recent past, although did pip Al-Mulla to the world title in 2023 on a tie-breaker in Indonesia and heads into 2026 as the defending champion.
Al-Mulla won five of the six Motos in Vietnam, Sardinia and Indonesia that counted towards the world title in 2024, although both riders won three Motos apiece last season. A disappointing display on Lake Toba last August saw Al-Mulla score points for third place in both Motos and he was not able regain those points at the subsequent Grand Prix in Sardinia and Qatar, despite three Moto wins.
Mariani was the model of consistency last season and three wins and as many second places netted the Italian a second world title in three seasons. Accumulo made the bottom step of the podium his again with Nuñes pushed down to fourth.
Qatar’s return to the calendar after a 10-year absence saw a record field entered in the Freestyle category and that bodes well for future stars to shine through and challenge the leading duo. Qatari Bader Al-Abdulla earned a podium and a fourth place at the Old Doha Port and there were also strong performances by Frenchman Steven Royer and local racer Abdulrahman Al-Sulaiti.
The future looks bright for Freestyle but it may take more than one more season before a new kid on the block has enough potential to upstage both Mariani and Al-Mulla in Freestyle.
Ends