Tuesday, July 23: A frenetic summer calendar of aquabike racing continues this week with the Grand Prix of Vichy, round two of the UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship and the stand-alone round of the UIM-ABP European Continental Endurance Championship.
Less than three days after the Hungarian city of Győr hosted the opening round of the series in Hungary, competitors and officials have made the frantic dash to France and the second largest city in the Auvergne region for what promises to be five days of gripping action on the Allier River, the left tributary of the Loire.
Final entry lists for both the endurance and traditional element of the racing itinerary will be finalised during registration and technical scrutineering tomorrow (Wednesday) but officials are delighted with the world class list of riders who are already making their way to central France.
An early provisional list issued by race officials shows a dozen riders in Runabout GP1, 11 Runabout GP2 entries, seven Runabout GP4 (including a pair of Juniors), half a dozen Runabout Ladies GP4, 21 Ski Division GP1, nine Ski Division GP2, 13 Ski Division GP3, nine Ski Division GP4, five Ski Expert GP1, four Ski Juniors GP3.3 class entrants, seven Ski Ladies GP1, three Ski Veterans GP1 and three Freestyle entries. The registration list for the five endurance Motos will be finalised on Wednesday and several other names are expected to feature amongst the main categories on Wednesday evening.
The timetable for race week is packed. The on-water action gets underway with pole position sessions for the GP3, GP2 and GP1 endurance fields on Wednesday lunchtime.
Thursday (July 25th) sees a host of free practice sessions, the first of the endurance Motos and pole position stints for Ski Division GP2 and Runabout GP4 with Freestyle free practice rounding off the day’s action.
Pole position sessions for Runabout GP2, GP2 Ladies and Ski GP3 and GP4 follow on Friday (July 26th) morning before three further endurance Motos round off the early action. The afternoon features the first of the Motos for six of the race categories and pole position stints for the remainder.
Moto 1s and 2s dominate Saturday (July 27th) morning’s itinerary, with further Motos and endurance races taking place in the afternoon before the opening Freestyle heat wraps up the day’s action.
Moto 3 for Runabout GP4 Junior, Ski GP3.3 Junior and Ski GP2 riders precedes the fourth endurance Moto on Sunday (July 28th) morning and the remaining Motos follow in the afternoon with Moto 5 Endurance GP1 wrapping up the weekend’s action ahead of the prize giving ceremony.