Americans don’t much care for what the rest of the world is doing. The FIFA World Cup? Meh, not so much. The United Nations? Pfft. You can keep your silly blue helmets. The same can be said for most American persona watercraft enthusiasts and the UIM Aquabike series. We at The Watercraft Journal have tested the waters, so to speak, and found our readership particularly disinterested in what we consider a very impressively-ran racing organization. Maybe it’s because it’s not the IJSBA, and the IJSBA is what traditionally started it all. Maybe it’s because Aquabike doesn’t hold any races here in the States. Either way, the Americans typically don’t care.
So when the UIM announced its final points totals for the 2015 World Rankings, we questioned whether people would actually care. Personally, we hope so because the persons who earned these spots did so deservedly. After a grueling season of hardscrabble racings, breakdowns and extensive amounts of travel, each champion has rightfully earned the respect of all fans of PWC racing – domestic or foreign. In Runabout Division, France’s renowned Jeremy Perez with a decisively 600-point lead. Fellow Frenchman, Mickael Poret claimed the Ski Division championship. Jennifer Menard claimed the Women’s Division and Italy’s Roberto Mariani beat out favorites Rok and Nac Florjancic for the Freestyle Division.
According to the UIM, “Menard’s place at the top of the Ladies rankings rounds out a near perfect 2015 for the 26-year-old Paris resident who came from behind to successfully defend her world championship at the final Grand Prix of the season in Sharjah to add to the French title she won earlier in the year for the third time.
“For the second time in two years, Perez claimed the number 1 slot in Runabout GP1 by some margin, some consolation for the Frenchman after the disappointment of missing his shot at the World title in Sharjah, ending the year in third spot and as European Champion, his countrymen Didier Chabert and Christophe Agostinho taking second and third spots.
“Mickael Poret’s number one ranking in Ski GP1 highlights the return to form of the 2010 and 2013 world champion, edging out Spain’s Nacho Armillas who he beat to the European title and brother Jeremy.”
