Rashed denied second win as Kuwaiti star lands home victory

World champion Al Mulla tops again, Emirati teenager Salman grabs best finish yet

Riders pose for a family photo.

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 15, (Agencies): Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer was denied back-to-back victories in the Grand Prix of Kuwait today by another dramatic twist in the opening round of the 2020 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship.

The Emirati rider, who won the previous day’s first Runabout GP1 moto from pole position, made another superb start to moto two and held a comfortable lead from Kuwait’s Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq before being halted by mechanical problems on the eighth of 18 laps.

Four-time world champion Abdulrazzaq went on to win by 28.81 seconds from last year’s championship runner up, Denmark’s Marcus Jorgensen, with reigning world champion Jeremy Perez of France in third.

Team Abu Dhabi were celebrating later, however, when reigning world freestyle champion Rashid Al-Mulla added victory in moto 2 to his success the previous day to clinch his 11thconsecutive Grand Prix success. Al Tayer had been looking to clinch the opening Grand Prix of the season as he did in Portugal last

Performers entertain the crowd.

year, and despite today’s setback looks capable of mounting a serious Runabout GP1 title challenge.

It may be some time before Team Abu Dhabi’s Salman Al Awadhi can do the same in Ski GP1. But the 18-year-old underlined his undoubted talent by producing his best finish to date as he took second place in moto 3 behind Victory Team’s defending champion Kevin Reiterer.

Shaken by her finish line collision with fellow-Swede Jonna Borgstrom 24 hours earlier, Team Abu Dhabi’s Emma-Nellie Ortendahl bounced back to take second place in the third Ski Ladies GP1moto behind France’s Jessica Chavanne, the overall Grand Prix winner.

“I have some bruises and am still a little sore, but we managed to keep it together after some technical issues here,” said three-times world champion Ortendahl, making her team debut.

Meanwhile, the first round of the 2020 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship, known also as Grand Prix of Kuwait, featured strong competitions in various categories on Friday.

Nacho Armillas, of Spain, grabbed the

One of the riders poses for the

camera.

lead in the Ski Division GP1, followed by France’s Mickael Poret and Norway’s Stian Schjetlein, in the second and third places, respectively.

In the Ski Ladies GP1, France Jessica Chavanne took the lead, followed by her compatriot Estelle Poret and Lisa Caussin Battaglia, Monaco, in the second and third places, respectively.

In the Runabout GP1, Rashed AlTayer, of the UAE, came first, followed by Marcus Jorgensen – Denmark, and Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq, of Kuwait, in the second and third spots, respectively.

In the freestyle layer, Rashid Al-Mulla, of the UAE, grabbed the first place, while Spain’s Roberto Mariani and Italy’s Paulo Nunes in the second and third spots, respectively.

The two-day event, held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, kicked off yesterday in the presence of Information Minister and State Minister for Youth Mohammad Al-Jabri and Public Authority for Sports Deputy Director General Dr Saqer AlMulla.