Moto Surf Championship finals in Croatia

The UIM MotoSurf World Championship final took place in Zadar, Croatia on 6-8 October. It broke a record in number of participants - there were 120 racers coming from 20 different countries. Among the key news, Zahorsky became a six-time champion, Minseong Kim brought the Stock title to Korea and Matouskova reigned Women Class.

In the Open class everybody was looking forward to the battle between Lukas Zahorski and Alex Lukscheider for the championship title. Lukscheider fought hard, but Zagorski put in a strong qualifying performance, taking the qualifying win by just 15 kps over Alex, and both drivers won their heats with full points. On Sunday, choppy waters just set up sea conditions that played into Lukas Zahorski's favour. He managed to control both finals and got his 6th title which made him the best rider of all time. After the competition and his victory, Zahorski announced his farewell to the Open class.

In the Women class there was a very tense competition between Aneta Stloukalova and Eliska Matouskova. Eliska arrived in Croatia with a 13-point lead and no room left. Her amazing speed even saved her from crashing in the race, as she still managed to close the gap and win the race. In the final, Eliska managed to take 1st and 2nd places, and Aneta Stlukalova took 3rd and 1st places. After Aneta Sacherova's long reign, Eliska Matouskova is the new women's motosurfing world champion.



In the Stock class we witnessed a stubborn fight for the championship podium. There was even a newcomer to the class, well known from the MotoSurf Games in the USA - Canadian rider Anthony Mestroni. However, the championship leader Minseong Kim controlled his gap in the championship, finishing 4th after the heats, and 8th and 3rd place in the final were enough to secure the world title.
Two other riders “had a race of their lifetime” - they were Timotej Zubor who finished first and first in the final and second overall and Anhony Squire who finished second and second and got 3rd place overall.

In the Stock Merlin Plus class – Oliver Navara was the man to beat, while Alexander Lanner and Renzo de Craze remained in contention for the championship podium. Nonetheless, Adam Ficek surprised his opponents with stunning speed and controlled the race for the first victory. Alexander Lanner was second and Oliver Navara finished third. In the overall standings Oliver Navara finished the season on top, Alexander Lanner succeeded to get his position as vice-champion, and Renzo de Crane finished third.

In the Junior Boys category, Kuwaiti duo Fares Ramadhan and Hamad Alhaddad took 1st and 2nd places respectively. Sebastian Kostelecky finished third.

For the Junior Girls class, all competitions came under the control of Slovakia. Emma Strculova overtook Zara Kubincova in second place and Sara Zuborova in third place at the World Junior Championships.

In the Electric Challenge before the finals Michal Skoček announced his withdrawal from the Grand Prix due to back pain, a move that opened the door for Alain Coppens, who would go on to become world champion in this category. France racer Julien Reynaud finished second, with an unlucky Michal Skoček third.

The weekend in Zadar concluded the 2023 campaign and the entire championship is now ready for the start of the 2024 season in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, in April.

The competitions in Croatia closed the 2023 campaign and the whole championship is now ready to kick off the 2024 season in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates in April.

Photos copyright motosurfworldcup.com