Saturday, September 28: Nikola Dryjakova, Mio Petrovic, Grantas Gurkšnys, Marlon Tiik, Petr Dryjak and Benedicte Drange earned vital Moto 2 victories after an action-packed afternoon of racing at the Grand Prix of Mira in Portugal on Saturday.

Dryjakova wins Runabout Ladies GP4 Moto 2; Bramm edges closer to title

Cyrielle Bramm had pole position and an 18-point lead over Ilaria Vanni at the start of the second of the Runabout Ladies GP4 Motos, where she lined up ahead of Nicole Cadei, Astra Gurkšnyte, Vanni, Nikola Dryjakova, Markéta Hollerová,Luísa Beja and Volia Dzikovich.

The French girl managed to hold her position but Vanni was on the pace from the outset and climbed to second place with Dryjakova, Dzikovich and Cadei running in the top five. By lap three, Bramm’s lead was 3.78 seconds but second place for Vanni would mean the outcome of the title race would go down to the final Moto on Sunday.

Bramm held on through the closing laps to secure a 4.32-second win and increase her championship lead over Vanni to 20 points. Both the French girl and Vanni were deemed to have made a start violation and were later awarded 25-second penalties. That punishment gifted the Moto win to Dryjakova with Bramm and Vanni slipping to second and third ahead of Cadei, Hollerová, Gurkšnyte, Beja and a struggling Dzikovich. A finish in Moto 3 would still be sufficient for Bramm to claim the European title.

Moto 2 Ski Junior success for Mio Petrovic

Moto 1 winner Mio Petrovic headed French rival Maxime Arthebise, Milo Beernaut, Via Petrovic and Pelle Stenborg at the start of the second Junior Moto for Ski GP3.2 and GP3.3 entrants. The leading duo were separated by just 15 points prior to the Moto in the unofficial classification.

Mio Petrovic and his brother Via hit the front in the second Junior Moto and began to pull away from Stenborg, Beernaut and Arthebise as the heat progressed. Mio held on to claim a 6.69-second win as the quintet held station to the finish of a processional heat. Petrovic now leads Arthebise by 22 points before the final Moto and a finish would give the Montenegrin the European Ski Junior GP3.3 title.

Gurkšnys on verge of Runabout GP4 Juniors title after Moto 2 win

Grantas Gurkšnys had pole position and an 11-point cushion over Erikas Butkas at the start of the second Moto for the Runabout GP4 Juniors. Katarina Sepp, Butkus, Rihard Leinsalu and Aurora Filberti followed closely behind the Lithuanian from the start. Dovydas Kutra was 20 points adrift of Gurkšnys and held third in the title standings.

Adas Zalagaitis made a superb start to lead through lap one from Gurkšnys, Vojtěch Korcak, Leinsalu and Sepp with Butkus down in ninth place. But Gurkšnys managed to pass his fellow countryman to snatch the lead and he began to edge clear as Korcak, Leinsalu and Sepp retained third, fourth and fifth, Kutra was sixth and Butkus moved up to eighth.

Gurkšnys held his nerve through the closing laps to seal the win by 23.42 seconds, a maximum points haul and duly extended his European Championship lead over Butkus to 22 points. Zalagaitis and Korcak rounded off the podium places with Leinsalu, Sepp, Kimily Lepp, Kutra, Butkus and Filiberti filling the minor places. Korcak and Leinsalu were then awarded 25-second penalties for start violations and those penalties meant that Lepp, Sepp and Kutra moved up to third, fourth and fifth overall with Korcak in sixth ahead of Butkus, Leinsalu and Filiberti.

Second Ski GP2 Moto win for Tiik

Marlon Tiik had won the opening Ski GP2 Moto from pole position and began Moto 2 from a similar starting place ahead of Gonçalo Rodrigues, the title-chasing Daan Hoeke, Matteo Valente and Manuel Leite.

Tiik retained his advantage and had built up a slender lead over Hoeke after lap one with Rodrigues slipping to third ahead of Valente and Leite. The quartet held their places throughout the rest of the Moto. Tiik was able to pick up his second win of the weekend by 2.75 seconds with Hoeke moving into an unassailable position at the top of the standings in the European Championship. Rodrigues and Valente finished third and fourth but a struggling Leite didn’t complete enough laps to be classified at the finish.

Dryjak sets up grandstand Runabout GP2 finale with Moto 2 win

Moto 1 pace-setter Petr Dryjak had pole for the second of the Runabout GP2 Motos and was trying to shoot down Frenchman Pierre-François Savelli, who led him in the title race by 15 points. Savelli, Robin Laforge, Fábio Costa, Justin Patzner, Alexandre Girel and Tom Claerhout were in close attendance.

Dryjak led from Adrian Herias, Laforge, Costa, Claerhout and Savelli through lap one and the Czech began to edge clear. He was 7.53 seconds to the good after lap two as Savelli climbed to fifth at the expense of Claerhout.

Dryjak held on to secure his second Moto win of the weekend by 3.71 seconds and the vital 25 points meant he closed to within 12 of Savelli in the title race before the final Moto on Sunday. A late push by the hard-charging Savelli netted second place and Laforge rounded off the podium places. Herias, Costa, Claerhout and Janina Johansson finished fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh of the nine finishers. André Correia was disqualified for a race course violation.

Drange takes second Ski Ladies GP1 Moto win

Norway’s Benedicte Drange had won the first Ski Ladies GP1 Moto from pole position and she lined up for Moto 2 ahead of Sofie Borgström, Siiri Salonen, Joana Graça, Virginie Morlaes and Naomi Benini for Moto 2.

Drange held her advantage through the early turn buoys and emerged from lap one with the lead over Borgström. Salonen, Benini, Graça and Morlaes were in close contention. The Norwegian continued to pull away as the Moto progressed and eventually reached the chequered flag 31.75 seconds in front of her closest Swedish rival. Salonen, Benini, Graça and a distant Morlaes rounded off the finishers.