Sunday, July 21: Estonia’s Jasmiin Ypraus, France’s Morgan Poret and Hungary’s György Kasza secured overall victories in the Ski Ladies GP1, Ski GP1 and Runabout GP1 categories at a pulsating Grand Prix of Hungary, near Győr, on Sunday afternoon.
A hectic afternoon’s on-water action in warm and sunny conditions on a quarry lake in Győrzámoly also saw Ander-Hubert Lauri, Marvin Bohuslav, Grantas Gurksnys, György Kasza, Daan Hoeke, and Pierre-François Savelli prevail in the Ski Juniors GP3.2 and GP3.3 World Championship, Runabout GP4 Junior World Championship, Runabout Veterans GP1, Ski GP2 and Runabout GP2 categories.
Ypraus recovers to earn Ski Ladies GP1 GP win; maiden Moto 3 success for Drange
Jasmiin Ypraus had dominated the opening two Motos in the Ski Ladies GP1 category and began the final heat with a six-point lead over Norwegian rival Benedicte Drange. Sofie Borgström was 10 points behind the Estonian in third position heading into the final showdown.
But Ypraus made a disastrous start, dropped over 20 seconds to her rivals and had to watch from the rear of the field as Drange snatched the early lead from Borgström, Virginie Morlaes, Naomi Benini, Joana Graça, and Janina Johansson. Ypraus began one of her customary charges through the field, setting the fastest lap on the next tour but Drange moved nearly 12 seconds in front of Borgström. Ypraus passed Johansson and moved into sixth place but she would need to finish third to prevent Drange from snatching the Grand Prix win.
The Estonian managed to close in and pass Graça on lap four and set her sights on Morlaes as Drange increased her lead to 21.24 seconds through lap five. Ypraus now had the but between her teeth and she disposed of Morlaes and began to close in on Benini. She passed the Italian on lap seven to snatch third place and, despite Drange winning her first Moto by 39.61 seconds, Ypraus recovered well enough to hold on to the Grand Prix win by one point with a third-place finish, despite being repassed temporarily by Benini with three minutes remaining. Borgström finished second in the Moto and third in the Grand Prix. Morlaes was later docked a lap for a start infringement and finished seventh.
A delighted Drange said: “This was my first ever victory in the international GP1 class. I am super proud of myself and proud of my team and the mechanics. I took the hole shot and I led the whole Moto. I just gained more distance to the people behind me. This was really fun.”
Morgan Poret wins Ski GP1 Grand Prix; Moto 3 win for Dardillat
Morgan Poret had won the opening two Motos and lined up for the Ski GP1 finale with a 12-point lead over his friend Valentin Dardillat and a 14-point advantage over his brother Mickaël. But Dardillat snatched the early lead and headed into lap two with an advantage of 2.62 seconds over Morgan Poret. Lukas Binar, Kevin Reiterer, Alec Enderli, Felix Helgeson, Mickaël Poret and Matteo Benini were running inside the top eight until Binar dropped out after two laps.
Dardillat maintained his lead on his Spectrum ski and began to pull away from Morgan Poret and a charging Reiterer. He was able to fend off his challengers to claim a memorable Moto win by 2.38 seconds and the runner-up spot in the Grand Prix behind a triumphant Morgan Poret.
Reiterer finished the final Moto in third but Morgan’s brother Mickaël took the remaining place on the Grand Prix podium. Enderli, Mickaël Poret and Matteo Beini rounded off the top six in the Moto but Felix Helgeson and Paul Thomas joined Binar on the list of retirements.
Runabout GP1 success on home event for György Kasza
Hungary’s György Kasza headed into the final Runabout GP1 Moto with a 10-point lead over Levente Kacor with Lino Araújo, Zsolt Cseke and Guillaume Hemain holding third, fourth and fifth places. Sweden’s Samuel Johansson was down in eighth after his morning’s costly retirement from Moto 2.
Kasza held off a rejuvenated Johansson through the opening buoys and led by 5.62 seconds through the opening lap. Andrzej Wisniewski, Egidijus Kirilevicius, Cseke and Kacor filled the other places inside the top six amongst the 16 starters. As the Moto reached half-distance, Kasza was able to stay clear of Johansson and a top six where everyone was maintaining their positions.
He eventually reached the chequered flag 5.40 seconds clear of Johansson much to the delight of the home crowds to secure the Grand Prix win and his third Moto success of the weekend. A distant Wisniewski, Cseke, Araújo, Martin Doulik Junior, Hemain and Kacor rounded off the top eight with Kacor and Araújo finishing second and third in the Grand Prix.
Cseke was later docked a lap for missing a buoy and slipped to ninth; his demise lifted Araújo, Martin Doulik Junior and Hemain into fourth, fifth and sixth. Ruben Jimenez Riquelme and Kirilevicius retired after seven and nine laps, respectively.
Ski Junior GP3.3 and GP3.2 world titles for Ander-Hubert Lauri and Marvin Bohuslav
Croatia’s Dorijan Jakopanec had already clinched the Ski GP3 on Sunday morning and he lined up for the final Ski Juniors GP3.3 and GP3.2 World Championship Moto with a six-point lead over Ander-Hubert Lauri and a four-point cushion over Maxime Arthebise. Marvin Bohuslav of Hungary had an unassailable lead in the Ski Juniors GP3.2 World Championship.
Jakopanec managed to fend off Lauri through the opening turn buoys although the determined Estonian found a way to pass on the first lap and grabbed the lead from the Croatian, Lajos Komonyi, Arthebise and Leo Kete. Komonyi then passed the championship leader to snatch second place but drama struck Jakopanec and he saw his chance of winning the Junior World Championship wilt when he plummeted out of contention at the end of lap one and slipped to seventh.
With the pressure off, Lauri was able to cruise to the Moto win by 2.16 seconds and sealed the Ski Juniors GP3.3 World Championship title, as Bohuslav confirmed honours in Ski GP3.2. Komonyi shadowed Lauri to the Moto finish from Arthebise and Kete but Jakopanec managed to finish sixth and confirmed second place in the Ski Juniors GP3.3 World Championship ahead of Arthebise.
World Runabout GP4 Junior title for Grantas Gurksnys
Lithuania’s Grantas Gurksnys headed into his Sunday afternoon’s Runabout GP4 Junior showdown with a comfortable 10-point advantage over Dovydas Kutra in the points’ standings. Katarina Sepp and Via Petrovic were tied on 38 points apiece in third place.
Gurksnys started from pole but he fell behind Sepp and Erikas Butkus through the opening turn buoys and the Estonian maintained the lead into lap two. Gurksnys regained second place from Butkus, began to apply the pressure on the leader and snatched the lead on lap three. From them on, the Junior World Champion elect extended his lead and reached the chequered flag 13.06 seconds to the good to seal a third Moto win of the weekend. Sepp and Butkus completed the Moto in second and third but Sepp and Kutra rounded off the Grand Prix podium. Kutra finished the race in fifth behind Rihard Leinsalu and pipped Butkus to third in the Grand Prix on a tie-decider.
György Kasza cruises to Runabout Veterans GP1 victory
György Kasza was chasing a win double in both the Runabout GP1 and Runabout Veterans GP1 categories and the Hungarian headed into the third of the Veterans’ Motos with an eight-point lead over Lithuanian rival Mindaugas Jaciauskas. Sándor Major was 12 points behind.
Kasza was not to be denied and the Hungarian led from the start and kept a measured gap between himself and Krisztian Panyi-Horvath and Jaciauskas. He clinched the Grand Prix with a 3.83-second heat success and a third successive heat win with Panyi-Horvath and Jaciauskas rounding off the Moto 3 podium. Zsolt Cseke retired after one lap, while Jaciauskas and Sándor Major took second and third in the Grand Prix.
Daan Hoeke takes last-gasp Ski GP2 Grand Prix win
Hungary’s Csongor Jászai and Dutchman Daan Hoeke were tied on 47 points apiece after a win and a second in the opening Ski GP2 Motos. Marlon Tikk of Estonia was seven points behind in third place, ahead of Finland’s Jerry Olin and Luuk Hoeke.
Jászai had pole for the final Moto and he used that to his full advantage to head his rival by 3.81 seconds after the first lap. Olin, Luuk Hoeke and Tikk settled into third, fourth and fifth, as Jászai continued to edge way from his closest challenger.
Hoeke was unable to make major in-roads into the Hungarian’s lead until the last lap and the Dutchman found a way through to snatch a dramatic Grand Prix win by 3.76 seconds. Jászai’s runner-up spot confirmed a similar position in the Grand Prix and Olin finished third in the Moto and fourth on a tie-break in the Grand Prix behind Tikk.
Savelli pips Dryjak to Runabout GP2 GP glory
Petr Dryjak started the final Runabout GP2 Moto with a two-point lead over Frenchman Pierre-François Savelli, although his rival had the slight advantage of pole position following his Moto 2 win. Levente Kacor was 10 points adrift in third in the points’ standings.
Savelli made a good start, edged 4.68 second clear of Dryjak and held the lead into lap two. Alexis Mihalcea, Daniel Lasselberger and Janina Johansson settled into third, fourth and fifth positions. Savelli held on to seal his second Moto win by 7.88 seconds and confirmed victory in the Grand Prix by a single point from Dryjak with Mihalcea finishing third and marking the first time that a Romanian has taken such a podium finish in aqua biking.
Dryjak, Mihalcea, Lasselberger, Belgian Tom Claerhout and Johansson rounded off the top six in the final Moto but Rashed Al-Dawas, Khalid Al-Maazmi and Agnes Albert were again non-starters. Alexandre Girel finished 14th after being docked a lap for missing a turn buoy and title contender Kacor was classified in 13th after being punished for ignoring signals and slipped to fifth in the GP standings behind Claerhout.