Saturday, June 22: Defending World Champion Jessica Chavanne and Belgian racer Quinten Bossche snatched victories in the second of the Motos in the Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski Division GP1 categories, while Estonian racer Mattias Siimann and Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Mulla won their opening Motos in Runabout GP1 and Freestyle at the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix of Italy in Olbia on Saturday evening.

Chavanne earned a much-needed win in the second of the Ski Ladies GP1 Motos and is now tied with runner-up and new World Championship leader Estelle Poret in the battle for Grand Prix honours in Sardinia. Sweden’s Emma-Nellie Ortendahl rounded off the podium places.

Chavanne said: “It’s amazing. I did not expect this. I did not expect to be speaking to the camera after winning the Moto. I am so happy. The conditions were worse than this morning so it was a little bit hard and a lot of pressure behind me. Before the race I was resting trying to get some energy. It was a big win.”

Quinten Bossche made it five Ski Division GP1 wins on the trot and secured a start-to-finish success in Moto 2 to extend his lead in the World Championship over Austrian rival Kevin Reiterer. Reiterer was a clear second and Japan’s Toshi O’Hara overtook Jeremy and Morgan Poret to snatch third.

Bossche said: “It was very intense. I didn’t think it would be rougher than this morning but it was. It was very hard and very difficult and I had to be focused all the way with the waves. I made a nice hole shot and was able to watch Kevin behind pass Morgan. I kept the hammer down and had a nice comfortable lead. One more to go.”

Estonian Mattias Siimann pulled off a shock first ever Runabout GP1 victory over French pharmacist and defending World Champion François Medori in a dramatic Moto. Medori’s closest title rival Samuel Johansson came home in third but the result means that Medori takes a two-point lead in the World Championship into the second Moto on Sunday and Siimann leads the Grand Prix from the Frenchman by three points.

Siimann said: “I can’t say anything because this is all I needed after my time driving a jet ski. I put all my efforts in life into this. The race was harder than I thought. The last two laps I was feeling like I would be sick. Personally, I like waves but it was a hard race.”

Moto 2 win for Jessica Chavanne in Ski Ladies GP1

Jasmiin Ypraus and Estelle Poret lined up at the start of their second Ski Ladies GP1 Moto tied on 85 points in the World Championship with defending World Champion Jessica Chavanne 16 points adrift in third. Poret was on pole from Chavanne and Emma-Nellie Ortendahl, courtesy of their top three finishes in Moto 1.

Chavanne took the hole shot and the momentum through the opening lap from Poret, Ortendahl, Ypraus, Benedicte Drange and River Varner. But Ypraus incurred a stop-and-go penalty and plummeted to sixth after three laps with Chavanne maintaining her lead from Poret, Ortendahl, Drange and Varner.

Chavanne’s lead over Poret was 2.460 seconds with less than five minutes to run as the top six held station but Ypraus was unable to find a way to overtake Varner and grab fifth. Chavanne held on to clinch a crucial 4.681-second victory and valuable points that lifted her into contention for the Grand Prix win on Sunday. Poret claimed a six-point lead over Ypraus in the World Championship with second place, Ortendahl rounded off the podium finishers and Drange, Ypraus and Varner rounded off the top six. Sofie Borgström, Joana Graca, Virginie Morlaes and Naomi Benini completed the top 10.

Fifth successive Ski Division GP1 Moto win for Quinten Bossche

Belgian sensation Quinten Bossche had led all four Ski Division GP1 Motos this season from start-to-finish and lined up on pole with a maximum 100-point haul that moved him 14 clear of Austrian Kevin Reiterer. Morgan and Jeremy Poret were third and fourth of the 24 starters on the pontoon. Oliver Koch Hansen switched to his brother Mads’s Kawasaki ski and started at the rear of the line-up on the pontoon but Dag Martin Drange, Lukas Binar and Anthony Beernaut were among the six non-starters.

Bossche made an excellent start and made the hole shot. The Belgian took the outside line and held the initiative throughout the opening lap to lead Morgan Poret by 4.956 seconds. Reiterer, Jeremy Poret, Toshi O’Hara, Valentin Dardillat, Deven Farthing, Mickael Poret, Alec Enderli and Anders Keller settled into the top 10.

As Bossche headed off into the distance, Reiterer found a way to pass Morgan Poret and snatch second and began to pull away from the Frenchman and his brother Jeremy. Jeremy managed to overtake his brother and secure third soon afterwards but Bossche’s lead grew to 9.390 seconds with less than eight minutes of the Moto to run.

There were no late dramas for the leader and a fifth successive Moto victory for Bossche by 13.223 seconds gave the Belgian 125 points, a 17-point lead over Reiterer in the World Championship and a six-point cushion in the race for the Grand Prix. Reiterer held on to second place, O’Hara finished third and Jeremy Poret beat his brother Morgan to fourth. Dardillat, Farthing, Mickael Poret, Jayden Richardson and Enderli filled the remaining places in the top 10.

Runabout GP1 Moto win for Mattias Siimann

World Champion François Medori lined up in pole position for the first of the weekend’s two 25-minute Runabout GP1 Motos. Estonian Mattias Siimann was second on the pontoon and Medori’s main title rival Samuel Johansson was third of the 25 starters.

Gyorgy Kasza and Martin Doulik made sensational starts with Jeremy Perez moving into third and Medori dropping back to fourth ahead of Siimann, Johansson, Andrzej Wisniewski, Dustin Farthing, Lino Araújo and Juan Cruz Lezcano.Farthing then passed Wisniewski to grab seventh but Kasza hit technical trouble on lap two, plummeted out of the Moto and handed Perez the lead from Doulik, Medori, Siimann and Johansson.

Perez was the next rider in the wars with engine issues and the luckless Frenchman lost the advantage in difficult water conditions, slipped out of the top 10 and Siimann moved into a shock lead when Medori was forced to take the penalty buoy.

The Estonian maintained a lead of 7.326 seconds into lap six with Medori holding second and Doulik, Johansson and Farthing running inside the top five. Wisniewski, Araújo, Ruben Riquelme, Lezcano and Guillaume Hemain completed the top 10 with 13 minutes on the clock.

Johansson managed to squeeze past Doulik and snatch third place but Medori had no answer to Siimann’s pace at the front of the field and the Estonian led by 9.120 seconds after eight laps. The top 10 riders retained their positions into the remaining five minutes and Siimann’s brave ride was then rewarded with a stunning victory over Medori by 13.740 seconds.

Johansson slipped two points behind Medori in the fight for the World Championship with third place, Doulik was an impressive fourth and Wisniewski rounded off the top five. Araújo, Riquelme, Hemain, Linus Lindberg and Lorenzo Benaglia completed the top 10 after a disappointed Farthing retired from fifth in the final minutes.

Rashid Al-Mulla earns Moto 1 Freestyle win

Four Freestyle riders took to the water for the first Moto for their programmes of spectacular spins, combinations, somersaults, back flips, barrel-rolls, transitions and general on-water acrobatics in front of the crowd in Olbia.

Team Abu Dhabi’s Rashid Al-Mulla earned Moto 1 success in the Freestyle category after an impressive on-water programme that included extra variety and style and earned the Emirati 25 championship points and a narrow lead over defending champion Roberto Mariani in the World Championship standings.

Al-Mulla said: “First of all, thanks to Sardinia. Today we had an amazing run. Thanks to Abu Dhabi for their support.”

Morocco’s Fadil Yassine and Italy’s Massimo Accumolo were the first riders on to the course but defending World Champion Roberto Mariani and multiple champion Rashid Al-Mulla saved the best until last.

The judges deemed that the 36-year-old Team Abu Dhabi driver’s programme included extra variety and style and he snatched a narrow lead over Mariani in the World Championship standings. He was awarded 103 points for a superb performance by the judges against 76 for Mariani, 59 for Accumulo and 28 for Yassine. Portugal’s Paulo Nuñes was a non-starter.