Friday, 19 June, ROSES, GIRONA (Spain): Strong winds welcomed 65 riders from 12 countries for round 2 of the UIM-ABP Aquabike European Continental Championship in Roses, Girona in North East Spain.
Amongst the strong international entry a large number of riders from the UIM-ABP world tour, highlighting the importance and the immediate success of the re-launched multi-event series which kicked off in Porec in Croatia in May and after Roses heads to Mirandella, Portugal (24-26 July) and Valras in France (4-6 September).
As strong as the entry is, there were two notable high profile names missing when registration finished this morning and both double heat and event winners from Porec, in Runabout GP1 Jeremy Perez and Ski GP1 Kevin Reiterer.
For the current world ranked number 1, Perez ,there is the slimmest of an outside chance that he might recover from a severe infection that has plagued him for the last four days, but only if the medication that he has been prescribed kicks in in time.
For Reiterer however there will be no chance to defend his top spot in the European Continental standings, a problem with his ski and not wanting to risk the engine, side lining him from the event.
The Runabout GP1 line up is dominated by French riders with Didier Chabert and Christophe Agostinho, currently second and third overall, looking to take advantage of Perez’s impending absence, with Spanish hopes resting heavily on the shoulders of Jordi Thomas.
Another rider feeling the pressure of racing in front of his home crowd is Ski GP1’s Nacho Armillas the winner in the World Championship in Qatar, who will have to fend off the challenge of Mickael Poret who won in Castro last time out and his younger brother Morgan.
In a strong Ski GP2 Ladies division the European Championship leader Beatriz Curtinhal takes on the World Championship leader Emma-Nellie Ortendhal, both likely to feel the heat from Jonna Borgstrom and Jennifer Menard.
Topping the time sheets at the end of Day 1/second practice:
Runabout GP1 – C Agostinho (fra)
Ski GP1 – Morgan Poret (fra)
Runabout GP2 – Y Rammah (cro)
Runabout GP3 – R Laforge (bel)
Ski GP2 – F Frauziol (fra)
Ski GP2 Ladies – E Ortendahl (swe) (first practice)
Ski GP3 – D Genevat (che)
Ski Junior – A Enderli (che)
Results: