2014 UIM Aquabike World Championship begins with round 1 in Doha, Qatar next month. A provisional list of riders has been released and it includes one big surprise -- Chris MacClugage, multiple Havasu winner will contest for Ski GP1 World Champion title. The big deal here is that up until now Chris MacClugage has been racing in Ski class in IJSBA, not in UIM. UIM Aquabike World Championship is a series of races around the world (a la MotoGP) to decide the best in Runabout GP1, Ski GP1 and Freestyle categories.
Our North American readers may wonder what the difference between UIM and IJSBA is. Simply put, IJSBA is a private corporation with no sports affiliation, while UIM is a 90-year old sports federation, recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). So, while any private company, such as IJSBA can name any private event "world finals" (eg. "motorcycle world finals"), it is really only UIM who can organize an actual World Championship competition.
So, back to Chris MacClugage, it is great news that a rider of such caliber will be joining world's biggest names. Additionally, Jeremy Poret will look to regain his 2012 World Championship title. For 2013 Ski GP1 results click here.
In Runabout GP1 class Yousef Al-Abdul Razzaq will try to defend against Jeremy Perez , Mattia Fracasso and Cyrille Lemoine. For 2013 Runabout GP1 results click here.
In Freestyle Rok Florjancic will look to defend against his own brother and last year's runner-up, Nac Florjancic, and bronze medal winner, jetGP.com sponsored Aleksandar Petrovic. For 2013 Freestyle results click here.
For the original announcement click here.
