The Kuwaiti star was unbeaten and led the standings after Italy
and China but it all changed in Doha after a breakdown and a
DQ, with Lemoine taking full advantage to win both heats, the
GP title and hit the front in the overall standings. The title race
turned again in Abu Dhabi, this time Lemoine stopping with
Abdulrazzaq going on to lift the title.
/emoine has a good record in Doha, finishing second overall in
2011 and winning for the last two years as well as picking up the
Slalom title last time out, and will be hoping to keep his winning
streak in Qatar going and take an early Championship lead.
Chasing both will be a trio of Lemoine’s countrymen, 2012
World Champion Francois Medori, 2011 Karujet winner and
2009 World Champion Teddy Pons and the 2013 UIM-ABP
World Ranking points leader Jeremy Perez.
Of the five fancied riders Medori is the only one not on a Sea-
Doo/Rotax machine but will be hoping that with a year under
his belt to dial in his new bike he can be more competitive and
improve on just one top three finish and fourth overall in 201 .
Hoping to go one better in both heats than he did last year will
be Qatar GP runner-up Italy’s Mattia Fracasso, who just edged
out Jeremy Perez, with Pons looking for a 100% improvement
after failing to finish twice.
Others to keep an eye on to get in the mix for good points
finishes are Poland’s Andr]ej :isniewski and Spain’s -ordi
Thomas jimene] who finished fifth and sixth respectively
overall last season.
The line-up in Ski GP1 is equally as spectacular and celebrated
and will see France’s Mickael Poret start the defence of the
crown he won in such dramatic fashion in Abu Dhabi last year
from the 2013 European Champion, Portugal’s Tiago Sousa and
Italy’s multiple Champion, Alberto Monti.
Both Sousa and Monti will be chomping at the bit to make a
good start after both saw their title hopes disappear in Abu
Dhabi after oǸcials slapped them with a DQ apiece for a
technical infringement post-race.
Of the three it is Sousa who has the better record in Doha,
taking a heat and title win last year to Monti’s heat win. But all
will have to be wary of two returnees.
Adding to the strength in depth in talent in Ski is the welcome
return of double World Champion Jeremy Poret, who along with
the youngest of the three Poret brothers, Morgan, will be intent
on keeping the Poret name on the World Championship trophy
– a title the Poret dynasty has held since 2010.
Another to look out for is Spain’s Nacho Armillas, who won the
season opener in Italy last year, and is back on the tour after an
injury cut short his 2013 challenge mid-season.
Looking to usurp the 15 riders from Europe this year and try to
take the title back across the Atlantic to the USA is simply one
of the biggest and most acclaimed names in World racing, Macc
Racing’s 18 times World and 15 times National Champion from
Lake Havasu, Arizona, Chris MacClugage, making his UIM-ABP
tour debut.
At this stage it looks like a new Champion will be crowned in
Ski Ladies with Champion Pija Sumer missing from the line-
up and last year’s runner-up Marta Sorrentino from Italy joined
by France’s Jennifer Menard, 17 year-old Estelle Poret and
Japanese rider Yuki.
In the crowd pleasing Freestyle Serbia’s Aleksandar Petrovic
faces the daunting prospect of taking on a trio of superstars
and World Champions; Slovenia’s defending World Champion
Rok Florjancic, who took maximum points last season and is
unbeaten in eight Grand Prix outings on the UIM-ABP tour,
picked up his first 8IM-ABP :orld title in Doha last year and did
so in style, leaving spectators speechless, rounding off his set
of tricks with 1 backïips.
His strongest challenge will come from his younger brother
and the 2012 World Champion Nac [Florjancic] and the Italian
showman and 2009 World Champion Valerio Calderoni, who
won the Qatar GP title in 2011.
AQUABIKE
26 | H20 MAGAZINE - MARCH 2014
h2oracing.net
