Rashed Al-Tayer missed the opening round of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship in Gallipoli because the event was a direct date clash with the Team Abu Dhabi racer’s UIM F2 World Championship commitments in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Rashed Al-Tayer in Lithuania last weekend – Photo: Fred Emeny

The Emirati will now make his first appearance of the season at this weekend’s Grand Prix of the Mediterranean off the shore of the city of Olbia in Sardinia.

He will be competing in the hotly-contested Runabout GP1 category where he faces fierce competition from the likes of Kuwait’s Gallipoli winner Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq, Frenchman Jeremy Perez, Hungarian racer Gyorgy Kasza and Sweden’s Lars Akerblom.