Sunday, July 9: Poland’s Juliusz Roman and Marcin Senda, Czech racer Nikola Dryjakova and French girl Jessica Chavanne were four of the triumphant aquabike racers on the concluding afternoon of the Grand Prix of Lithuania in Kupiškis on Sunday.
Petr Dryjak may have claimed victory in the second and third Runabout GP4 Motos but that was not sufficient to stop Poland’s Juliusz Roman from claiming overall victory in Lithuania by a single point and the European Championship crown by 14 points. Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau finished the European series in third place with the Estonian duo of Marek Laanisto and Karl Keskula finishing fourth and fifth.
Daniils Potrivailo beat Mindaugas Skarbalius for the third time this weekend to win the Ski Division GP4 category with a maximum 75-point haul. He won by two laps again to confirm the GP win by nine points.
Nikola Dryjakova continued her impressive run of form to win the third of the Runabout GP4 Ladies Motos by 5.22 seconds. The Czech girl duly claimed a maximum 75 points on her way to the Lithuanian victory, with the Estonian pairing of Annemarie Randla and Ester Rosin finishing second and third in Moto 3 and at the Grand Prix. Dryjakova also provisionally claimed the European Championship title by 22 points. Randla and Hungary’s Amanada Karasek were second and third.
Mio Petrovic and Ander-Hubert Lauri made it three successive Moto victories apiece in the Ski Junior GP3.2 and 3.3 categories. Lauri finished the third race 2.45 seconds clear of Lajos Komonyi to secure the Grand Prix win by 11 points. Dane Frederic Frandsen was third in Moto 3 and finished in a similar position in the Grand Prix.
Arti Mölter of Estonia secured the Runabout GP4 Junior World Championship with a narrow 1.72 second victory over Volodymyr Kaliuznyi of Ukraine in Moto 3. The runner-up spot was sufficient for Kaliuznyi to see off Karl Keskula and Dovydas Kutra in the battle for second place in the standings. Keskula finished the Grand Prix in third place, two points clear of Kutra.
Andrea Guidi followed up wins in the first and second Motos with second place in Moto 3 and that was sufficient for the Italian to claim the Ski Division GP2 European Championship title and the Grand Prix win. Žurins Karlis won the last of the heats by 42.78 seconds with Manuel Leite of Portugal coming home in third. Hungarian racer Csongor Jászai eventually finished as runner-up in the European Championship with Marlon Tiik coming home in third.
Ricards Fukss pulled away from Mindaugas Jacauskas to confirm as 43.02-second Moto 3 heat win in Runabout GP2 and that enabled the Latvian to win the Grand Prix by 15 points from Marcin Senda. But the Pole had done enough to claim the European Championship crown and finished the two race meetings in Hungary and Lithuania 27 points clear.
The German duo of Benjamin Boecker and Justin Patzner finished the last of the Motos in third and fourth and Patzner duly claimed third in the GP and second in the European Championship. Lithuanian Mindaugas Jacauskas rounded off the European podium.
The Ski Division GP1 Ladies European titles went to Jessica Chavanne after a final Moto where Axel Courtois had already confirmed the Ski Division GP1 crown. Courtois finished his Lithuanian racing in winning style, however, and completed the nine-lap race 2,14 seconds in front of Oliver Koch Hansen.
Chavanne and Yasmiin Ypraus came into the final Moto separated by just three points in the standings but the French girl held her nerve to stay ahead of Ypraus to seal victory in both the Grand Prix and the European Championship. Virginie Morlaes and Joana Graca finished third and fourth in the Ladies’ race.
Victory in the last of the Runabout GP1 Motos fell to Czech racer Martin Doulik Junior. He finished the 13-lap heat 1min 20.1sec clear of Attiila Keri with local rider Egidijus Kirilevicius claiming third. The result was sufficient for the Czech to confirm the European Championship title and the Grand Prix win.
György Kasza of Hungary struggled at the rear of the field and, as a result, he was unable to achieve Grand Prix success to add to his second place in the European Championship. Pole Andrzej Wisniewski was disqualified from the final Moto.
World number one Roberto Mariani dominated pole position qualifying and won the first of the Freestyle Motos, the Italian amassing 84 points to beat fellow countryman Massimo Accumolo by 12 points. Portugal’s Paulo Nuñes was third heading into their second Moto that brought the racing in Lithuania to a conclusion.