Thursday, September 5: The UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship will reach a conclusion with the Grand Prix of Mira, Portugal on September 27th-29th.
The third round of the championship is centred around the coastal town of Mira, nestled in the Gândara region in close proximity to Aveiro, Coimbra and Figueira da Foz and racing will take centre stage on Barrinha Beach in Praia de Mira.
Entries continue to filter in for the final European weekend of the season and many of the racing categories will be decided over the course of another hectic racing timetable. None more so than the highly competitive Runabout GP1 class, which currently sees Swede Samuel Johansson holding a slender two-point cushion over local Portuguese rival Lino Araújo and an eight-point advantage over fellow countryman Linus Lindberg.
Several drivers, including Guillaume Hemain of France, Czech Martin Doulik Junior and Hungary’s György Kasza, are also handily-placed to make a late title challenge and defending World Champion François Medori cannot be ruled out either: the Frenchman missed the opening round in Hungary but a pair of Moto wins in France and a third place in Moto 3 have lifted the recently-crowned European Endurance champion into contention.
The French duo of Morgan Poret and Valentin Dardillat are the men to beat in the Ski Division GP1 class. Poret leads his rival by just two points after six Motos, while the realistic battle for third place in the championship will be fought out between Dane Oliver Koch Hansen, Frenchman Axel Courtois and Swiss racer Alec Enderli. Several other racers will be chasing Grand Prix of Mira success.
The Ski Ladies GP1 category has been one of the highlights from the opening two Grand Prix and Estonian sensation Jasmiin Ypraus will head to Portugal with a four-point cushion over Norwegian rival Benedicte Drange. Sweden’s Sofie Borgström is a distant third and may well be threatened for the final podium place by the likes of Naomi Benini and Virginie Morlaes.
Defending World Champion Roberto Mariani has dominated the four Motos so far in Hungary and Portugal and has a maximum 100 points to his name. Fellow Italian Massimo Accumolo and Portugal’s Paulo Nuñes are his closest rivals.
Hungarian Csongor Jászai has a commanding 30-point cushion over Dutchman Daan Hoeke for Ski GP2 honours, with Luuk Hoeke, flying Finn Jerry Olin and local riders Manuel Leite and Matteo Valente also in the hunt for podium honours.
In Ski GP3, Belgian racer Yoni Hamelin won all three Motos in Vichy and tops the standings by 31 points from fellow countryman Loris Lambert. Leite is third. Hamelin has also been the dominant force this season in Ski GP4 and the Belgian leads the category by 34 points from French girl Jennifer Menard-Poret. Daniils Potrivailo of Latvia is a distant third.
Frenchman Pierre-François Savelli has earned five Moto wins and a third place in Runabout GP2 and has a comfortable cushion of 18 points over Czech Petr Dryjak before the final round. Belgian Tom Claerhout is a strong third, ahead of Justin Patzner and Janina Johansson.
Dryjak, meanwhile, may well prevail in the Runabout GP4 category: the Czech racer leads the class by 18 points from Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau. Pole Juliusz Roman and Swede Christian Cagnard are tied for third.
Montenegrin Mio Petrovic is in pole position to land the Ski GP3 Junior 3.3 crown, although he only has a single point advantage over Frenchman Quentin Duporte. Maxime Arthebise and Adrian Kristoffersen are tied for third.
The Runabout Ladies GP4 category has been well supported this season and French girl Cyrielle Bramm has taken three Moto wins and as many second-place finishes to amass 141 points. That puts her 11 clear of Ilaria Vanni before the final round and 30 ahead of last year’s front runner and outgoing European Champion Nikola Dryjakova.
Grantas Gurkšnys tops the Runabout GP4 Juniors points’ standings before the final round. The Lithuanian is eight clear of Erikas Butkas and 11 ahead of Dovydas Kutra as Lithuanian racers hold first, second and third in the title race.