Sunday, November 26: Jessica Chavanne, Mickael Poret, François Medori and Roberto Mariani earned their respective Ski Ladies GP1, Ski Division GP1, Runabout GP1 and Freestyle World Championship titles in a thrilling finale to the Grand Prix of Lake Toba-Indonesia in Balige on Sunday afternoon.

Chavanne clinched her Grand Prix victory and the World Championship title in style, her cause made that much easier when rival Jasmiin Ypraus lost control and ended up in Lake Toba on the opening lap of the final Ski Ladies GP1 Moto. But the Estonian produced one of the greatest fight backs in women’s aqua biking racing history to move up from ninth to finish third and claim the runner-up spot in the GP and the World Championship.

Chavanne said: “I am feeling really grateful. I am really happy. It was better than expected. Moto 3 was really difficult with the weather. At the second buoy, we have, maybe, more than one metre of waves. It was really crazy. It was difficult for all the girls but I could stay on the ski. I think the feeling is better than the first (World Championship) because I think to win it a second time is more difficult.  I think it will sink in by tomorrow…”

The French Poret brothers enjoyed a successful weekend on Lake Toba. Mickael Poret clinched the Ski Division GP1 World Championship with victory in Moto 3 and his younger brother Morgan claimed two Moto wins and a second place to win the Grand Prix. Dane Oliver Koch Hansen finished second in the title race.

Mikael Poret said: “Crazy….I worked so hard for that. Thanks to my family. You cannot imagine how much work I did for that. It was a very good fight with Koch Hansen. It was very nice…”

Second place for François Medori enabled the Frenchman to stay clear of fellow countryman Jeremy Perez to claim the Runabout GP1 World Championship title. The Moto 3 victory went to Poland’s Andrzej Wisniewski, while Perez won the Grand Prix from Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq to continue France’s dominance of the sport.

Medori said: “Crazy..it was so hard because we break one part and we had to change it yesterday, so I start on the last and I push as hard as I can yesterday to finish in the top three. Today, I make a better start and I knew I had to finish ahead of Jeremy. I pass him on the first lap and stayed in front of him all the race. I am so happy for all my team. The fight with Jeremy was incredible all the year. Conditions were better for me today and I tried to push to the maximum. I also want to thank my wife for giving me all the positive energy, even years after my first (World Championship). I am really happy.”

Roberto Mariani pipped great rival Rashed Al-Mulla to glory in Moto 2 in the Freestyle category and that was sufficient for the Italian to earn the World Championship on a tie break. He also sealed the Grand Prix win.

Chavanne claims GP and World Championship double with Moto 3 win

Jessica Chavanne lined up for the final Moto with a five-point Ski Ladies GP1 World Championship lead over Jasmiin Ypraus, although the duo was tied for honours in the Grand Prix of Lake Toba-Indonesia on 47 points apiece.

Chavanne made the better start in the last Moto but there was drama on the opening tour when Ypraus was wiped out by a wave, lost control and was hurled into the water, the incident wrecking the Estonian’s title chances and handing Chavanne a massive boost. The leader began to edge away from Sweden’s Sofie Borgström and Virginie Morales and extended that advantage to 12.801 seconds through lap two, although Ypraus did manage to get back on her bike and restart in eighth of the nine runners. Lisa Caussin Battaglia was again a non-starter.

As Chavanne headed off towards the Grand Prix win and World Championship title, Ypraus managed to overtake Janina Johansson and snatch seventh place. She then passed Joana Graca and moved up to sixth and began to pressurise Swede Emma-Nellie Ortendahl in a bid to grab fifth. With less than six minutes on the clock, Ypraus also managed to overtake the young Swede as the remarkable fightback continued.

The determined Estonian then got the better of Morales and reached the dizzy heights of fourth place. Chavanne reached the chequered flag 29.032 seconds in front of Norwegian student Benedicte Drange, who held off Ypraus to take second and finish third in the Grand Prix after Borgström had been overtaken. Morales, Borgström, Ortendahl, Graca, Johansson and Naomi Benini rounded off the finishers with Ortendahl doing enough to claim third in the World Championship.

Mikael Poret confirms World Championship with Moto 3 win

Frenchman Mickael Poret lined up in the season’s Ski Division GP1 finale with a three-point cushion over Dane Oliver Koch Hansen in the World Championship standings. Morgan Poret was the big favourite to win the Grand Prix itself after back-to-back wins in the opening two Motos.

Kevin Reiterer and Koch Hansen were a little slow off the start pontoon but the race was red-flagged almost immediately. Dag Martin Drange and Barnabas Szabo failed to make the restart but Morgan Poret was again the form rider and snatched the early advantage from his older brother, Reiterer, Oliver Koch Hansen and Alec Enderli.

There were no changes on the leader board until Mickael Poret managed to overtake his brother and snatch the lead on lap three. The two French brothers were now able to control the race, as the World Champion elect began to pull away from his younger brother and extend his lead to 4.455 seconds into lap five.

He reached the chequered flag 3.409 seconds in front of his brother in deteriorating water conditions and Reiterer held off World Championship runner-up Koch Hansen to finish third. Enderli and Alex Courtois finished fifth and sixth. GP winner Morgan Poret said: “I am very happy. It is my first time to win a Grand Prix and what a place to win my first one…”

François Medori wins Runabout GP1 world title

Heavy rain was falling at the start of the second Runabout GP1 Moto, where François Medori lined up on the start pontoon with a three-point World Championship lead over Jeremy Perez. Kuwait’s Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq was 10 points adrift in third place.

Carbon neutral rider Andrzej Wisniewski was the surprise early leader for Team Black Shadows and he moved clear of Medori, Perez, Rasmus Koch Hansen and Al-Abdulrazzaq through lap one. Thirteen riders began the race and the 52-year-old Polish construction company owner continued to hold the initiative through the opening three laps. But Medori edged ever closer to the leader and the gap was only around one second with less than 15 minutes of the race to run.

The leaders began to pass the back markers in dirty water but the Pole maintained his lead into lap 11 and held on to claim a sensational win by 3.697 seconds. Perez won the overall Grand Prix of Lake Toba-Indonesia from Al-Abdulrazzaq and Medori clinched the world title from Perez and Al-Abdulazzaq, who finished fifth in the Moto behind Koch Hansen. Alejandro Molina Miranda, Johan Johansson, Frederik Brandao, Gyorgy Kasza and Cseke Zsolt ro