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 today.

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.

Al 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.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashed Al Tayer meanwhile lines up in tomorrow (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

Just two points behind Denmark’s championship leader Marcus Jorgensen, Al Tayer could manage only ninth fastest in today’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. Team Abu Dhabi’s Salman Al Awadhi was 15th fastest in the Ski GP1 pole position qualifier.