Monday, July 15: The Hungarian city of Győr hosts the opening round of the 2024 UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship next weekend (July 19th-21st).  

Aquabike Promotion and local Hungarian officials are delighted to announce a massive entry has been received across the various race divisions, with riders set to compete in the Runabout GP1, Ski Division and Ski Ladies GP1 and Freestyle categories, in addition to the event hosting competitors in Ski Division GP3 and GP3, Runabout GP2 and GP4, Runabout Ladies and Runabout GP4 Juniors (World Championship), Ski Division GP4 and the Ski GP3 Junior 3.2 and 3.3 World Championships.

Final entry lists will be issued next Thursday in Győr but the pre-race entry features strength in depth across the range of sporting disciplines. Seventeen racers, including Estonian female hot shot Jasmiin Ypraus, Morgan Poret and Axel Courtois of France and Austria’s Kevin Reiterer, are entered in the Ski Division GP1 section.

Local racers Csongor Jászai and Martin Sumegi feature on an eight-strong Ski Division GP2 list that also includes the likes of flying Finn Jerry Olin and the Portuguese duo of Matteo Valente and Manuel Leite. Jászai and Sumegi also feature alongside fellow countrymen Barnabas Szabo and Markus Erlach in a provisional 12-strong Ski Division GP3 line-up.

The talented young Estonian Ander Hubert Lauri faces Latvia’s Daniils Potrivailo, Austrian Christina Mahringer, Belgian sensation Yoni Hamelin and Lithuanian Grantas Gurksnys in Ski Division GP4, while Ypraus and Sweden’s Sofie Borgström head a six-strong list of Ski Ladies GP1 entrants that also includes Benedicte Drange, Naomi Benini, Virginie Morlaes and Joana Graça.

Defending World Champion Roberto Mariani is the top seed amongst the six Freestyle entrants in the absence of Emirati rival Rashed Al-Mulla. The line-up also includes the Austrian duo of Wolfgang Strasser and Maximilian Martha on a pair of Rickter skis.

Sixteen racers grace the flagship Runabout GP1 entry and they include Pole Andrzej Wisniewski, local hero Gyorgy Kasza, Czech Martin Doulik and Dane Rasmus Koch Hansen. Kasza also features on the list of seven entrants for the Runabout Veterans GP1 category alongside the likes of Italian Stefano Castronovo and fellow countryman Zsolt Cseke.

Thirteen riders will provisionally line-up in Runabout GP2: Czech Petr Dryjak may well be one of the front-runners in a group that also includes Castronovo, Belgian Tom Claerhout and Slovakian racer Mário Lamy. Meanwhile, there are a dozen entries for Runabout GP4 and they include the Estonian duo of Arti Mölter and Henri Koppas and Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau.

Nine girls grace the Runabout Ladies GP4 entry and they include Italy’s Arianna Urlo, French girl Cyrielle Bramm and Czech Nikola Dryjakova.

Riders in the Ski Juniors GP3.2, GP3.3 and Runabout Juniors GP4 classes will be battling it out for World Championship points. Lauri faces a showdown with Croatia’s Dorijan Jakopanec, Swede Pelle Stenborg and Hungarian Lajos Komonyi in Ski Juniors GP3.3, while Marvin Bohuslav of Hungary will be aiming for GP3.2 honours. Three Lithuanian youngsters, a Romanian and a pair of Italian rookies will battle it out in Runabout Juniors GP4.

The location for the closed course events is off Zámoly Beach at an old quarry lake in Győrzámoly, which is a popular residential area in the agglomeration of Győr. It is located in the Lower Szigetköz, which is an island on the Danube between the main arm of the river and the Mosoni-Duna (smaller arm). All technical formalities will take place there on Thursday (July 18th).

After a briefing on Friday morning (July 19th), riders will carry out free practice sessions from 09.00hrs (CET) with a further five free practice sessions following at the start of the afternoon. The first Motos in the Ski GP3, Runabout GP4 and Ski GP4 sections follow from 16.30hrs.

The opening ceremony will then be held in downtown Győr at 19.20hrs before a spectacular night of Freestyle action gets underway on the Danube-Rába confluence in the historic downtown of Hungary’s sixth largest city in front of the Kossuth Bridge with free practice at 19.20hrs and Moto1 at 20.00hrs.

Eight further Moto 1s follow from 09.00hrs on Saturday morning (July 20th) and then Ski GP1 and Runabout GP1 riders will take to the water for their opening Motos after the lunchbreak. Moto 2s then take centre stage for nine further categories and Freestyle free practice precedes a welcome dinner.

Moto 2s and 3s make up the timetable for Sunday morning (July 21st) and afternoon action consists of the remaining nine Moto 3s and Freestyle Moto 2 before the prize giving ceremony rounds off the weekend’s hectic itinerary.