Wednesday, September 11: As the final countdown begins to the finale to this season’s UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship, Aquabike Promotion and the FPM have issued the provisional entry for the Grand Prix of Mira in Portugal on September 27th-29th.  Riders from 13 nations grace the up-to-date list.

The entry features 13 Runabout GP1 riders, eight entered in Ski Division GP1, three Ski Ladies GP1 and a similar number of Freestyle entrants. Strength in depth throughout all the racing categories is exemplified by a rider in Ski GP2, half a dozen in Ski GP3, and five in Ski GP4, in addition to a pair of Juniors, six Runabout GP2, three in Runabout GP4, five in Runabout Ladies GP4 and three Juniors in their Runabout GP4 class.

Entrants hail from host nation Portugal, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Italy, France, Norway, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Current Runabout GP1 class leader Samuel Johansson heads a Runabout GP1 field that also includes second-placed local driver Lino Araújo and defending World Champion François Medori. The list also features the likes of Poland’s Andrzej Wisniewski, Linus Lindberg and Martin Doulik Junior.

The French quartet of Mickael Poret, Axel Courtois, Paul Thomas and Eddy Godon feature on the Ski Division GP1 list that also includes Dag Martin Drange, Felix Helgenson and Oliver and Mads Koch Hansen.

Estonia’s Jasmiin Ypraus is not on the provisional Ski Ladies GP1 entry that currently includes her second-placed Norwegian rival Benedicte Drange, Virginie Morlaes and Joana Graça. Meanwhile, defending World Champion Roberto Mariani lines up alongside fellow Italian Massimo Accumolo and Portugal’s Paulo Nuñes in the Freestyle category.

Runaway leader Yoni Hamelin of Belgium tops the Ski GP3 section and lines up with local riders Diogo Barbosa, Leite and Martim Marques and fellow Belgians Loris Lambert and Rémy Marlier.

Hamelin has also dominated the Ski GP4 category this season and will compete against Daniils Potrivailo, Grantas Gurkšnys, Jennifer Menard-Poret and Valentin Coutier in Mira. 

Pierre-François Savelli has earned five Moto wins this year in Runabout GP2 and is the strong favourite to claim the European crown. The Frenchman will face closest rival Petr Dryjak, Spain’s Adrian Herias, Justin Patzner, Linus Lindberg and third-placed Tom Claerhout at the season’s finale.

Dryjak leads the Runabout GP4 category from Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau and the pair will go head-to-head in Mira with further competition coming from Spain’s Ivan Pantoja Fernandez.

French girl Cyrielle Bramm is 11 points clear of her nearest rival Ilaria Vanni in Runabout Ladies GP4 heading into the final weekend of the season. The duo will face off in Portugal with Astra Gurkšnyte, Marketa Hollerova and the outgoing European Champion Nikola Dryjakova also on the entry list.

Lithuania’s Grantas Gurkšnys leads the Runabout GP4 Juniors category and faces closest rival Erikas Butkas and Italy’s Aurora Filberti.

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. Racing will take centre stage off Barrinha Beach in Praia de Mira.