Saturday, November 25: Jasmiin Ypraus, Morgan Poret and Jeremy Perez claimed victories in the opening Ski Ladies GP1, Ski Division GP1 and Runabout GP1 Motos at the Grand Prix of Lake Toba-Indonesia in Balige on Saturday.
Today’s Moto and further action on Sunday will decide the outcome of this year’s UIM-ABP Aquabike Class Pro Circuit World Championship on the spectacular volcanic lake that has already hosted the opening round of the UIM F1H2O World Championship and the UIM-ABP Endurance World Championship this year.
Ypraus closes gap on Chavanne with Ski Ladies Moto win
Estonian racer Jasmiin Ypraus headed World Championship Jessica Chavanne and Sweden’s Sofie Borgström into the first of the Ski Ladies GP1 15-minute Motos from a pontoon start. Borgström had delivered an impressive qualifying performance bearing in mind her recent recovery from wrist injuries but she made a poor start and slipped back to fifth, as Ypraus and Chavanne moved clear of Virginie Morales.
The Estonian managed to stay ahead of her French rival through the opening three laps and headed into lap four with a lead of 2.953 seconds. Morales, 17-year-old Norwegian student Benedicte Drange and Borgström rounded off the leading five.
Ypraus managed to hold on to claim the 25 points for the Moto win and reduced Chavanne’s championship lead to two points with two Motos remaining. Her winning margin was 3.931 seconds. Morales was unable to hold off Drange in the battle for third and Borgström finished fifth, ahead of Janina Johansson, Emma-Nellie Ortendahl, Naomi Benini, Joana Graca and Lisa Caussin Battaglia.
Ypraus said: “I feel amazing. Before coming here, I knew that Jessica was going to be fast and it was going to be a battle until the end of the week. She pushed hard. I got away well and she was pushing from behind.”
Morgan Poret earns Ski Division Moto 1 win; brother Mickael leads championship
Austrian racer Kevin Reiterer lined up on the start pontoon ahead of 13 rivals, with Belgium’s Anthony Beernaut and Axel Courtois alongside and series leader Oliver Koch Hansen down in seventh for the 17-minute Moto.
Morgan Poret made the best start, however, and the Frenchman stormed into the lead from older brother Mickael, Reiterer and Courtois, but the race was red-flagged after a couple of minutes for safety reasons. As rain began to fall, the restart was aborted from the pontoon after a jump-start but it was third time lucky and Morgan and Mickael Poret moved ahead of Courtois, Reiterer and Alec Enderli.
The leaders held station through lap three and Mickael Poret and set to snatch the World Championship lead with Koch Hansen running down in seventh behind Beernaut. With less than five minutes to run, Morgan led his brother by 2.5787 seconds and he held on to confirm a stunning Moto victory by 2.916 seconds.
Second place was sufficient for Mickael Poret to displace Oliver Koch Hansen at the top of the rankings, while fourth for Courtois also lifted the Frenchman into title contention after he was overtaken for third place by Reiterer in the final minute. Enderli finished fifth and Koch Hansen passed Beernaut in the dying seconds to snatch fifth.
Morgan Poret said: “It was incredible, so fast. I was very good on the water, so happy. It was a beautiful win in front of so many people…”
Runabout Moto 1 victory for Perez; Medori retains championship lead
Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq lined up on the start pontoon in heavy rain ahead of Jeremy Perez and series leader François Medori for the opening 25-minute Moto. Perez made a superb start and was followed through the opening lap by Al-Abdulrazzaq and Johan Johansson after the Kuwaiti recovered from a poor start by taking the alternative course. Andrzej Wisniewski, Alejandro Molina Miranda and Rasmus Koch Hansen slotted into fourth, fifth and sixth but Medori and Gyorgy Kasza were down in seventh and eighth of the 13 racers to start.
Corsican Medori managed to pass Koch Hansen and climbed to sixth, as Frederik Brandao’s machine was towed off the race course. Perez started lap five with a 5.325-second advantage over Al-Abdulrazzaq, while Medori began to pressurise Molina Miranda in a frantic bid to retain his World Championship lead with 13 minutes of the race remaining. The determined Frenchman’s persistence was rewarded and the former World Champion found a way to pass both Molina Miranda and Wisniewski to grab fourth. He temporarily gained third from Johansson until the Swede regained his position, although Medori was successful at his second attempt and moved up to third.
Rasmus Koch Hansen climbed to fifth and then passed Johansson to snatch fourth overall with four minutes of the race remaining. At the head of the race, Perez began lap 14 with a 13.290 second cushion over a slowing Al-Abdulrazzaq, with Medori and Koch Hansen running a long way behind.
The Frenchman held on to take the chequered flag 49.853 seconds ahead of an increasingly-slowing Al-Abdulrazzaq and closed to within three points of third-placed Medori in the title race. Medori very nearly caught the struggling Al-Abdulrazzaq at the death, as Johansson and Wisniewski finished fourth and fifth.
Perez said: “I kept pushing and I am very happy with this win. This win is for my new born Leonardo and now we have to do the same tomorrow. I will do my best…”
Roberto Mariani, Rashid Al-Mulla, Paulo Nuñes and Moroccan Yassine Fadli then took to the water for their pole position session.
The stand-alone Parallel Slalom World Championship and Freestyle Moto 1 take place this evening.