Aquabike World Championship final set to roll on Doha Bay in Qatar

DOHA: Qatar returns to the 2025 sporting calendar to host the final round of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship this weekend.

Aquabike Promotion and the Doha Marine Sports Club (DMSC) will host the three-day event at Old Doha Port Grand Prix of Qatar on Doha Bay. The event will act as the final round of the World Championship and the stand-alone Runabout GP2 Asian Continental Championship.

The provisional entry features 90 riders from 19 nations, with 28 competing in Runabout GP1, 23 in Ski Division GP1, 13 in Ski Ladies GP1 and a staggering 12 in Freestyle. In addition, 14 will compete in the Asian Continental section of the weekend.

François Medori heads to Doha with a maximum 100 points for winning four successive Runabout GP1 Motos. The Corsican will be aiming to defend a 16-point advantage over Jeremy Perez, with current World Champion Samuel Johansson somehow retaining third in the rankings, despite picking up just three points from the second of the recent heats in Sardinia.

 All the major protagonists are among the 28-rider field and they include Pierre-François Savelli, Robin Laforge, György Kasza, Andrzej Wisniewski, Martin Doulik and Linus Lindberg. The host nation will be represented by Khalid Al-Mohannadi and Waleed Al-Sharshani and the Emirati trio of Khalid Al-Maazmi, Khalifa Belsalah and Mohammed Mohsin boost the regional entry.

The Qatar event also sees the dramatic return of five-time world champion Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq and fellow Kuwaiti riders, Rashed Al-Dawas and Ahmad Al-Khadhari.

Dane Oliver Koch Hansen arrives in Doha with an 11-point lead over Jéremy Poret in the battle for the Ski Division GP1 world title. The leading racers on the planet battled it out in three gripping Motos in