Saturday, July 27: Lithuania’s Grantas Gurkšnys, Hungary’s Csongor Jászai, the French duo of Pierre-François Savelli and François Medori, Estonia’s Jasmiin Ypraus and Belgian Quinten Bossche earned Moto 1 victories in the Runabout GP4 Junior, Ski GP2, Runabout GP2, Runabout GP1, Ski Ladies GP1 and Ski GP1 categories during an action-packed Saturday morning at the Grand Prix of Vichy on the Allier River.
Gurkšnys extends European Championship lead with Runabout GP4 Junior win
Grantas Gurkšnys began the opening Runabout GP4 Junior Moto from pole and also came into the race weekend with a comfortable lead in the European Championship. He started the Moto strongly and began to pull away from Lithuanian rivals Erikas Butkus, Dovydas Kutra and Adas Zalagaitis. Italy’s Aurora Filiberti held fifth place.
By lap four, the leader had increased his advantage to 9.58 seconds and he managed to reach the finish with a comfortable 19.70-second cushion over Butkus. Second place also lifted Butkus ahead of the absent Katrina Sepp and into second place in the European Championship standings with Kutra climbing to third with the final place on the podium. After the Moto, the Lithuanian was then docked two laps for course cutting and one for missing a buoy and he dropped back to finish fifth behind third-placed Zalagaitis and Filiberti in fourth.
Csongor Jászai wins opening Ski GP2 Moto
Csongor Jászai had pole position for the opening Ski GP2 Moto but Dutchman Daan Hoeke had arrived in Vichy with a three-point lead over the Hungarian in the European Championship. With the exception of Marlon Tikk, the top six title contenders lined up for the opening Moto with Finland’s Jerry Olin, Portugal’s Manuel Leite and Luuk Hoeke all chasing valuable points.
Jászai held off his main rival to claim the Moto win and the all-important 25 points but Hoeke picked up 22 for second place and the pair are now tied in the European Championship. Portugal’s Matteo Valente earned the final place on the podium after Olin was disqualified for invading an alternative course. Leite and Lionel Bourrel rounded off the top five when Luuk Hoeke was handed a one-lap penalty for a start infringement and slipped to sixth.
Savelli wins Runabout GP2 Moto 1 and increases Euro series lead
Petr Dryjak sat on pole for the opening Runabout GP2 Moto from Belgian Robin Laforge, although Frenchman Pierre-François Savelli led the Czech by a single point in the European Championship and started the Moto from third ahead of Michele Marras of Italy, Germany’s Justin Patzner and Belgian Tom Claerhout.
But Savelli made the cleaner start and moved ahead of Dryjak after the opening lap with Laforge in third and Marras and Patzner following close behind. Early trouble for Dryjak saw him drop as low as 10th after three laps but the Czech began to pull himself up the leader board as Savelli stayed clear of his rivals at the front of the field.
The Frenchman held on to claim a 3.07-second win from Laforge and increased his lead in the European Championship. Patzner, Claerhout and Kamil Fadrowski rounded off the top five with Dryjak climbing back to pick up points for sixth. Marras retired after seven laps.
But Claerhout was later handed a four-lap penalty for course cutting, Fadrowski and Janina Johansson were also penalised and, out of the ensuing chaos, Patzner climbed to third, Dryjak was promoted to fourth and Julien Venuat rounded off the top five.
Medori draws first blood with Runabout GP1 Moto win
World Champion François Medori lined up ahead of Samuel Johansson, Jérémy Perez and Guillaume Hemain at the start of the first Runabout GP1 Moto, although the Frenchman had not been present at the first round in Hungary and was not in contention for the European Championship.
Johansson made the best start but Medori edged into a 2.50-second lead through lap one with Perez, Hemain, Martin Doulík Junior and Jean-Baptiste Baldassari running in the top six. Linus Lindberg then displaced Baldassari and moved into sixth as the leading five held station through five laps.
Medori held off his rivals over the closing laps to earn a narrow 1.68-second win and Johansson’s second place lifted the Swede into a similar position in the European Championship behind the absent György Kasza and unofficially tied with seventh-placed Lino Araújo. Perez rounded off the podium places and Hemain, Doulík Junior and Lindberg were fourth, fifth and sixth. Ruben Jimenez Riquelme and Andrzej Wisniewski both retired on the opening lap, Manuel Reggiani pulled out after eight laps and Benjamin Boecker was disqualified for a course infringement.
Medori said: “Samuel made an incredible start and came out just in front of me and I pass him in the first bit. I tried to stay in front of him all the Moto. It was okay. The race was very difficult in these conditions. I am really happy with this result. It is one of the most difficult circuits you can have in the world. Sometimes you can have a roll and sometimes a wave, so you have to be focused on very second every time and you have to be prepared for this.”
Runner-up Johansson added: “I got a great start and just managed to edge out Medori but, unfortunately, I took the wrong split on the first lap and he got past me. It was really difficult and really fun. I enjoy the waves here!”
Ypraus extends European lead with opening Ski Ladies GP1 Moto success
Estonia’s Jasmiin Ypraus lined up on pole from Norwegian rival Benedicte Drange for the opening Moto with the pair separated by just one point in the European Championship after three Motos in Hungary last weekend. Drange made the best start and managed to get herself in front of Ypraus through lap one, as Naomi Benini, Virginie Morlaes and Joana Graça moved into third, fourth and fifth after a bad start by defending World Champion Jessica Chavanne. The luckless Estelle Poret was a non-starter after suffering a leg injury.
Drange and Ypraus began to pull clear of their rivals and were running nearly a minute ahead of third-placed Benini through five laps. Ypraus then managed to pass Drange on her Kawasaki, take the lead and increase her advantage into the closing stages of the Moto. The Estonian reached the chequered flag 12.24 seconds in front of Drange to extend her European Championship lead to four points. Benini, Morlaes, Sofie Borgström, Janina Johansson and Chavanne rounded off the finishers after Graça retired her Fast Power Sports ski two laps in.
Bossche wins Ski GP1 Moto 1
The pole-sitting Belgian Quinten Bossche is dominating this year’s World Championship but did not take part in the opening European round in Hungary. He headed Jeremy and Morgan Poret and Oliver Koch Hansen into the opening Moto with Morgan Poret leading Valentin Dardillat by nine points in the European Championship standings.
Bossche didn’t have it his own way on this occasion, however, and the Belgian ceded the advantage to Morgan Poret through lap one with his brother Jeremy breathing down his neck in third. Andrea Guidi and Daniel Svae Andersen were non-starters among the 22-ski field, as Koch Hansen retained fourth ahead of Saudi rider Nizar Abuljadayal, Thomas Bento and Dardillat.
Bossche hit the front on the next lap, as Benjamin Scharff entered the top six and pushed Bento, Alec Enderli and Dardillat down the classification with six minutes and two laps of the Moto remaining. By lap five, Bossche had increased his lead to 8.56 seconds from Morgan Poret, although Koch Hansen had overtaken the Frenchman’s brother and moved into third.
Bossche held on to claim victory by 21.87 seconds from Oliver Koch Hansen after Morgan Poret hit trouble in the dying minutes and plummeted out of contention. Jeremy Poret, Dardillat and Scharff finished third, fourth and fifth and Enderli, Bento, Matteo Benini, Paul Thomas and Axel Courtois rounded off the top 10 finishers. Ypraus pulled out after six laps and Abuljadayal was not classified after multiple course cutting violations. Morgan Poret only picked up three championship points after finishing 18th following an additional two-lap penalty for course cutting.
Bossche said: “I had not the best start and we have to solve this for the next Moto. But Morgan and Jeremy had good starts. I came up behind them, I passed Jeremy on the first lap and then I tried to get close to Morgan. He made a small mistake which moved me very close to him. I attacked on the straight, we came out side-by-side and I passed and tried to leave him in the distance. Let’s see in Motos 2 and 3.”