Winners celebrate success at Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy

SARDINIA: Estonians Mattias Reinaas and Mattias Siimann, Portugal’s Gonçalo Oliveira Rodrigues, Czech Petr Dryjak, French girls Clara Muchembled and Jessica Chavanne and Dane Oliver Koch Hansen won their respective Moto3 heats at the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy, the first round of the UIM ABP Aquabike World Championship.

Reinaas, Rodrigues, Alejandro Prats Palau, Manuel Reggiani, Chavanne and Koch Hansen claimed Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy victories in their various race categories.

French girl Clara Muchembled lost out on victory in the Runabout GP4 Ladies category when she was disqualified at post-race scrutineering for a technical irregularity on her jetski’s engine. Her disqualification gifted the win to the Czech Republic’s Nikola Dryjakova.

Frenchman François Medori and Italy’s Roberto Mariani claimed victories in the Moto2 heats in their respective Runabout GP1 and Freestyle categories with both riders sealing Grand Prix success in Olbia. Mariani finished the weekend tied on 47 points with Emirati rival Rashed Al-Mulla.

For the fifth time Olbia has hosted a race of Aquabike and 135 riders from 25 countries competed in the Grand Prix and over 600 people from team members, organisers and officials descended on the city of the beautiful island of Sardinia this weekend.

They included a delegation from the Indonesian government, as the southeast Asian powerhouse prepares to host a future round of the UIM-ABP World Championship on the spectacular volcanic Lake Toba in Sumatra. The delegates joined large numbers of spectators to soak up the atmosphere and witness the thrilling high-speed on-water action, held in near perfect weather conditions over the last three days.