Monday, October 31:  It may only have a population of around 1.33 million, but the small Baltic Republic of Estonia is beginning to make waves in the world of Aquabike racing and emerging talent is plain to see across numerous categories in the UIM-ABP Aquabike World and European Continental Championships.

 

Bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia and to the east by Russia, Estonia is establishing itself as a nurturing ground for new talent. Most of its Olympic medals have come in athletics, weightlifting, wrestling and cross-country skiing, but the country did crown an FIA World Rally Champion (Ott Tänak) in 2019. 

 

Now it has World Champions in Aquabike racing and several young racers breaking through the ranks. Jasmiin Ypraus is ranked as world number one and claimed victory in three Ibiza races and a first, second and third in Sardinia on her way to clinching the 2022 Ski Ladies GP1 title. 

 

Mattias Reinass finished third in the tussle for Ski Division GP2 supremacy and topped the standings in Ski Division GP3 and GP4, while rookie Ander Hubert Lauri amassed 70 points to win the Ski Junior GP3.3 Championship. 

 

Estonia was also on the top step of the podium in Runabout GP2 with Mattias Siimann winning five of the six Motos to win the series by 24 points. He also sealed outright success in Runabout GP2 and GP4.

 

Four Estonian female racers took part in the Runabout GP4 Ladies series: Annemarie Randla finished sixth in the final rankings and Katriin Nilbe, Ester Rosin and Carmen Roosmaa were ninth, 11th and 12th. 

 

Kerto Kase took part in the Sardinian races in Ski Division GP1 and Henri Koppas competed in Ski Division GP2 in Ibiza and finished seventh in the Runabout GP4 series, where Mia Carolin Oiemets was also an entrant and scored 17 points on the Mediterranean island. 

 

In the 2022 European Continental Championship that visited Italy, Poland, Portugal and Hungary, Siimann finished fourth in Runabout GP1 and won the Runabout GP2 and GP4 titles. Reinass claimed second place behind Belgium’s Anthony Beernaut in Ski Division GP1 and won the GP2 and GP3 categories. 

 

Kase took part in the Grand Prix of Italy and Koppas finished third in the Ski Division GP2 rankings behind Reinass and Portugal’s Matteo Valente. He was also second in GP4. Ypraus finished as runner-up to Virginie Morlaes in Ski Ladies and Lauri won the Ski GP3 Junior 3.3 class.

 

Valeri Trujevtsev and Marcus Kesküla competed in Runabout GP2 and Veterans GP1, while Henry Kiisa and Marek Laanisto scored Runabout GP4 points in Poland. The category also attracted Peep Uibu, Patrick Luca Uusjarv. Ott Karu and Nilbe. 

 

Rosin and Roosmaa finished second and third in Runabout Ladies GP4, Randla was fifth and Oiemets and Nilbe were 10th and 14th. In Runabout Juniors GP4, Estonia continued to show its depth of talent with Arti Molter and Karl Kersula finishing second and third behind Czech racer Petr Dryjak. 

 

The future is certainly bright. The future could well be Estonian…