Bel Selah determined to bring world title to UAE
UAE jet ski rider wins top honours in Round 2 of Aquabike series
T he UAE’s Khalifa Bel Selah has vouched he will go all out for the world crown after taking the overall lead in the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship in Italy last weekend.
Bel Selah led a clean sweep of Gulf riders while winning the Runabout GP1 category at the Grand Prix of Italy held in Castro. Bel Selah was followed by Kuwait’s Yousuf Abdul Razzaq and Qatar’s Thamer Al Darwish as the race came to en exciting end last weekend.
The win enabled the jet ski rider from the UAE to push to the top of the overall standings in the Runabout GP1 class with 67 points. Qatar’s Al Darwish is in second with 62 points, Abdul Razzaq in third with 56, Jeremy Perez in fourth with 53 points and Jean-Baptiste Botti in fifth with 52.
“Definitely, this is such a huge achievement for me personally as I was racing against the best jet ski riders in the world. I knew that if I wanted to be competitive and win against such a field, I would have to just stick to my game plan and run my own race till the end,” Bel Selah told Gulf News after landing in Dubai late on Monday.
“Last week’s results have thrown the race for top honours wide open and I am determined to give off my best in the next two rounds and bring the world title to the UAE. There is no better feeling than hearing the UAE national anthem at the end of a race. I feel confident I can go all out and win this,” he added.
Though it was Bel Selah who went on to take the overall honours, it was his rival Jean Baptiste Botti who grabbed the headlines for winning the second heat after starting from last place and finishing more than 50 seconds clear of the pack.
It was sweet revenge for the 28-year-old from Corsica as he had been stripped of his win in Heat One following a protest, and Bel Selah was handed the win.
Starting from the back of the third row in the 21-rider field, Botti was quickly up to sixth place at the end of the first lap. Two laps later, he had managed to go past countrymen Teddy Pons and Francois Medori even as Bel Selah, Abdul Razzaq and Al Darwish maintained their lead at the front.
But another lap gone and there was no stopping Botti as he powered his way past Al Darwish, Abdul Razzaq and finally Bel Selah to notch a clear win.