Team Abu Dhabi’s Mulla grabs pole in China

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al Mulla underlined his status as the world’s top aquabikes freestyle rider with another dominant display in the Grand Prix of Qingdao in China on Thursday.

The reigning world champion stayed on course for back-to-back titles by claiming pole position for this weekend’s first of two motos in the penultimate round of the 2019 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship.

Mulla outscored his rivals in all categories, claiming 81 points to top the standings from Italian Roberto Mariani, his closest challenger in the freestyle title race, on 63 pts.

The Emirati now heads into this weekend’s first of two motos on Saturday afternoon aiming to extend his winning sequence to a ninth successive Grand Prix.

The fact that their normal fuel is not available in China causes some concern for Team Abu Dhabi.

“The biggest difference is that I get a lot of height and do a lot of scary tricks, but I don’t make mistakes,” said Mulla, whose practice regime sees him out on the water for at least five hours a day, four times a week.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer meanwhile lines up in Friday afternoon’s Runabout GP1 pole position race looking to recapture the form which took him to an opening round Grand Prix victory in Portugal back in May where he grabbed a share of the championship lead.

Tayer could manage only ninth fastest in Thursday’s free practice session, but is aiming for a points haul this weekend which can give him a strong title chance in December’s final round in Sharjah.

Tayer arrives in China two points behind the current front runner, Denmark’s Marcus Jorgensen.

“I said before the start of the season that my target is to win the world title, and that hasn’t changed,” Tayer said.

“It’s going to be tough, but I know I showed in Portugal that I can take a Grand Prix and I know what I need to do to win again in China.”

Team Abu Dhabi’s Salman Al Awadhi was 15th fastest in the Ski GP1 pole position qualifier.

Awadhi retured to action in the Ski Division GP1 after finishing runner-up in the Runabout GP2 championship in Portugal in June.

Tayer capped a superb double triumph for Team Abu Dhabi in the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship by recording his first Grand Prix victory in Portugal. The Emirati fought off a fierce challenge from reigning Runabout GP1 world champion Jeremy Perez to win the deciding moto in dramatic style and claim overall success in this season’s opening Grand Prix in Portimao.

Tayer went into the decider three points behind Perez and knew it was a winner take all scenario, grabbing the advantage immediately after getting past his rival at the start to lead at the end of the opening lap. The Abu Dhabi rider looked in control and was seven seconds clear at the mid-point of the 15 lap Moto but could not completely shake off Perez, and in a repeat of a previous day’s enthralling encounter the gap between the two front runners began to shrink in the closing stages with Perez moving to within three seconds on the penultimate lap, but this time Tayer hung on to take the win.