French Aquabike Stars Set To Shine In Sardinia!

UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship TORTOLI-ARBATAX, Sardinia - Friday, 27 May 2011 French Aquabike Stars Set To Shine In Sardinia! header_may27.jpgFrench stars, Franky Zapata, Jeremy Poret and Julie Bulteau will be looking to extend their Championship leads in this weekend's Sardinia-Ogliastra Grand Prix, round two of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship - the only question to be answered is can anyone halt the seemingly unstoppable march of the talented French riders?

Fifty six riders from ten countries will line up in Tortoli-Arbatax with over half of the competitors intent on breaking French rule. Zapata and Bulteau will start as firm favourites in their respective disciplines, Runabout F1 and Ski F1 Ladies, after dominating their season-openers in Qatar in March - both taking maximum points. Zapata holds a ten-point lead in the standings, and the bad news for his rivals is that the multiple Champion has modified his Mercury-powered Zapata bike, improved reliability and gained horsepower. Runabout F1 boasts a fleet of 27, but with the UAE’s Bin Hendi missing from the line-up it is defending World Champion Cyrille Lemoine who heads the chasing pack, along with fellow Frenchman Francois Medori and Italian Mattia Fracasso, with Teddy Pons making his first appearance since winning the 14th running of the Karujet in Guadeloupe in April. Lemoine has also worked on his machine in between Grand Prix, and says that his Sea-Doo Rotax engine package is now stronger and he is confident that he can challenge Zapata for the win. Defending Champion Bulteau also carries a ten-point cushion into the weekend, and since Qatar has been working on her fitness and is intent on maintaining her unbeaten run on her Rotax-engined Zapata, her biggest challenge likely to come from Italy’s Stefania Balzer and Slovenia’s Pija Sumer. In Ski Division F1, France’s Jeremy Poret, also running a Rotax-Zapata combination, will have to fend off the attentions of countrymen Jean-Baptiste Botti and Christopher Courtois, and Spaniard Nachette Armillas - just 15-points separating the top four. In the spectacular Freestyle event two Italian riders, Valerio Calderoni and Roberto Mariani go head-to-head against France’s Romain Stampers and Sebastien Cerniat, with Calderoni, the current Championship leader, the favourite to once again steal the show. Today saw all competitors take full advantage of an open free practice session to familiarise themselves with the course, the Grand Prix programme proper kicking-off tomorrow (Saturday 28) with official qualifying starting at 10.00hrs and the first heats of the Sardinia-Ogliastra Grand Prix starting at 15.30hrs with Ski F1 Ladies followed by Ski Division F1, Freestyle and Runabout F1. Saturday 28, May: 10.00/12.45 - Official Qualifying 15.30/16.00 - Ski F1 Ladies, heat 1 16.00/16.30 - Ski Division F1, heat 1 16.30/17.00 - Freestyle, heat 1 17.00/17.30 - Runabout F1 21.00/23.00 - Parallel Slalom Ski, Runabout & Freestyle show Sunday 29, May: 11.00/13.00 - Warm Up 15.30/16.00 - Ski F1 Ladies, heat 2 16.00/16.30 - Ski Division F1, heat 2 16.30/17.00 - Freestyle, heat 2 17.00/17.30 - Runabout F1, heat 2 For further information: http://www.2oracing.net www.aquabike.net