MEDIA INFORMATION
2025 UIM-ABP World Aquabike Championship
SARDINIAN CITY OF OLBIA SET TO HOST SECOND ROUND OF AQUABIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THIS WEEKEND
Tuesday, October 14: This weekend sees the beautiful island of Sardinia hosting the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy out of the idyllic city of Olbia. The second round of the 2025 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship takes place from Friday morning through to Sunday afternoon.
The increasingly-popular championship has again attracted a massive field and Aquabike Promotion and FIM are delighted to announce 154 riders from 27 nations on the provisional entry list. They are further broken down into 29 in both the Runabout GP1 and Ski GP1 classes, 24 in Runabout GP4, 17 in Runabout GP2, 14 in Runabout GP4 Ladies, 13 in Ski Ladies GP1, nine in Ski GP4, eight in Ski GP2, seven in Ski GP3 and four in Freestyle.
François Medori won the opening two Runabout GP1 Motos of the season in Sumatra and has a six-point lead over defending champion Samuel Johansson. Jéremy Perez and Pierre-François Savelli are their closest rivals and all four have made the trip to Sardinia alongside the likes of Robin Laforge, György Kasza, Andrzej Wisniewski and Matin Doulik in a massive quality field.
Oliver Koch Hansen claimed two Moto wins from three on Lake Toba in August and leads Jéremy Poret by 10 points heading into the second round of the Ski GP1 discipline. Sixteen-year-old Yoni Hamelin of Belgium is third in the series, ahead of Alex Barret and young Estonian Ander-Hubert Lauri. All five are present in Italy amongst a huge group of riders that include defending World Champion Quinten Bossche, Morgan Poret, Benjamim Scharff, Kevin Reiterer and Axel Courtois.
Three second places at the opening round in Indonesia have given Jasmiin Ypraus a single point advantage over Estelle Poret in the Ski Ladies GP1 category. Naomi Benini, Benedicte Drange and Jessica Chavanne are in close attendance. All five are present in Olbia alongside the likes of Virginie Morlaes, Joana Graça and River Varner.
Multiple European Champion Roberto Mariani earned a pair of Moto wins in Freestyle in Indonesia to hold a six-point lead over Massimo Accumolo. Team Abu Dhabi’s defending champion Rashid Al-Mulla is down in third in the standings ahead of Portugal’s Paulo Nuñes. All four will do battle again this weekend.
This will be a stand-alone World Championship round for the remainder of the categories. Italians dominate the Runabout GP2 class with the likes of Alessandro Fracasso, Manuel Reggiani and Davide di Maio, but Spaniard Ruben Jimenez Riquelme makes an appearance, along with Pole Marcin Senda, Germany’s Justin Patzner and Estonian Karl Keskula in a 17-bike field.
Twenty-four riders have entered in Runabout GP4 and they include Lithuanian Grantas Gurkšnys, Ibiza-based Spaniard Alessandro Prats Palau, Pole Juliusz Roman and Italy’s Davide Pontecorvo.
There are 14 girls in the Runabout GP4 Ladies section with newly-crowned European champion Nikola Dryjakova hoping for a win-double against the likes of Nicole Cadei, Michelle Dimov, Katriin Nilbe, Cyrielle Bramm and Arianna Urlo.
Eight riders grace the Ski GP2 entry list. Hungary’s Csongor Jäszai is one of the pre-race favourites and lines up against the Austrian duo of Robin Ortner and Lukas Glanninger, Estonia’s Karl-Joosep Steinberg and Mattias Reinass and the Italian trio of Alessio Ascione, Andy Trasmondi and Gianfranco Oliveri.
Jäszai will also be aiming for Ski GP3 success against six rivals from five nations. Dag Martin Drange represents Norway, Alexandre Bourgeois flies the French flag and Portugal’s Manuel Leite, Croatian Dorijan Jakopanec, Belgian Michael van Reybroeck and fellow countryman Gergo Simon complete the provisional field.
There are nine entries in Ski GP4 led by Frenchman Mathys Meziere and Latvian rival Daniils Potrivailo. They face competition from Pietro Massimo Cannizzo, Markus Erlach, Alberts Cupriks, Mansour Abuljadayel, Baptiste Calmels, Lino Brusadin and Juraj Jadanec.
Registration and technical scrutineering take place on Thursday (October 16th) before the start of three days of hectic action that will draw the curtain on the European aquabiking scene for 2025.
Free practice for the Ski Ladies GP1, Ski GP1, Runabout GP1 and Freestyle entrants gets the on-water action underway from 09.00hrs and these short stints precede free practice and pole position for the Ski GP3, Ski GP4, Runabout GP4, Runabout GP4 Ladies, Ski GP2 and Runabout GP2 racers before the lunch break. Pole position qualifying for the three primary race categories are planned from 14.30hrs and are followed by the opening Motos for Ski GP3, Ski GP4 and Runabout GP4. Freestyle Pole Position rounds off the day’s action.
The opening Motos for Runabout GP4 Ladies, Ski GP2, Runabout GP2, Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski GP1 kickstart Saturday morning’s action before a free practice session for Runabout GP1 before the lunch break. A hectic afternoon sees the second of the Ski GP3, Ski GP4, Runabout GP4, Runabout GP4 Ladies, Ski GP2 and Runabout GP2 Motos before the second of the Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski GP1 heats and the opening Motos for Runabout GP1 and Freestyle.
Free practice on Sunday morning precedes the third of the Ski GP3, Ski GP4 and Runabout GP4 Motos. Another action-packed afternoon sees the conclusion of the racing with the final Motos for Runabout GP4 Ladies, Ski GP2, Runabout GP2, Ski Ladies GP1, Ski GP1, Runabout GP1 and Freestyle.
Ends