Friday, July 26: Belgian Yoni Hamelin, Czech Petr Dryjak, Frenchman Baptiste Calmels, Italian Ilaria Vanni and Belgian Maxime Arthebise secured Moto 1 successes in the Ski GP3, Runabout GP4, Ski GP4, Runabout GP4 Ladies and Ski Junior 3.3 categories at the Grand Prix of Vichy on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Hamelin and Frenchman Eddy Godon prevailed in the opening Motos in the Ski Expert (not UIM) and Veteran GP1 classes.
Hamelin secures Ski GP3 Moto 1 win
Belgium’s Yoni Hamelin qualified on pole ahead of Hungary’s Lajos Komonyi and his fellow countryman Loris Lambert for the opening ski GP3 Moto in round two of the UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship. The pole-sitter made a strong start and held the lead through two laps from Michael Van Reybroeck, Lambert and Phil Segers but Komonyi slipped down the rankings and was running in 12th of the 15 starters heading into lap three.
Belgian racers had a lock-out of the first four places in the rankings through the halfway point of the race and Hamelin held on to claim the Moto 1 by 14.78 seconds from Van Reybroeck. Segers, Lambert, Portugal’s Manuel Leite and Dutchman Bram Hoeke rounded off the top six. In the absence of the European Championship-leading Dorijan Jakopanec, Hamelin moves to the top of the points’ standings after three Motos in Hungary and one in France.
Dryjak takes European Runabout GP4 series lead with Moto 1 success
Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau had pole position and headed Czech Petr Dryjak and Pole Juliusz Roman into the opening Runabout GP4 Moto. The absent Henri Koppas led the European Championship by five points from Dryjak with Prats Palau in third and Roman tied with Michele Cadei in fourth, although Cadei did not start the Moto.
Dryjak made the better getaway and snatched a slender advantage over Prats Palau, Roman, Dovydas Kutra, Adrien Bussolon and Christian Cagnard. Cagnard passed Bussolon to take fifth but the top four held station through three laps with Dryjak leading by 2.64 seconds. The Czech held on to the finish to secure the Moto win on his Sea-Doo by 3.35 seconds from Prats Palau and move ahead of Koppas in the European Championship standings after four Motos. Roman, Kutra and Cagnard finished third, fourth and fifth.
Calmels wins first Ski GP4 Moto: Hamelin extends European Championship lead
Frenchman Baptiste Calmels had pole for the first Ski GP4 Moto from the European Championship-leading Yoni Hamelin and Mathys Mezière. Calmels snatched the initiative from the start and moved into a 7.58-second lead over Mezière heading into lap two. Hamelin held third from the French duo of Mickael Traclet, Jennifer Poret and Lithuanian Grantas Gurkšnys.
Calmels continued to edge away from Mezière as the Moto progressed and reached the finish 9.12 seconds ahead of Hamelin, who passed Mezière near the finish and extended his lead in the European Championship. Traclet, Poret, Daniils Potrivailo, Gurkšnys and Valentine Coutier rounded off the top eight.
Vanni wins second Runabout GP4 Ladies Moto; Bramm continues to lead European Championship
Ilaria Vanni headed fellow Italian Arianna Urlo from the start of the first Runabout GP4 Ladies Moto with the European Championship-leading Cyrielle Bramm in third of the 10 starters. Vanni held her line and managed to complete the opening lap ahead of Bramm, Urlo, Nikola Dryjakova, Volia Dzikovich, Nicole Cadei, Luísa Beja and Astra Gurkšnytė.
Urlo found a way to pass Bramm to regain second place as Cadei climbed to fifth at the expense of Dzikovich. But Urlo hit trouble soon afterwards and slipped to fifth with Bramm retaking second and Dryjakova and Cadei moving up to third and fourth. Vanni held on to record a deserved 4.60-second win from Bramm, Dryjakova and Cadei, although Bramm maintained a useful lead in the European Championship. Urlo had problems near the finish and slipped to eighth place. Beja retired after three laps and Gurkšnytė was penalised two laps for course cutting and finished ninth.
Moto 1 wins for Hamelin and Godon in GP1 Expert and Veteran GP1 classes
Dutchman Daan Hoeke led Robin Sylvester and Yoni Hamelin from the start of the opening Ski GP1 Expert Moto with Csongor Jászai in fourth. The Veteran GP1 category ran in the same heat and Anthony Errecart headed Gabor Szabo, Eddy Godon and Virginie Morlaes.
Hamelin snatched the lead from Hoeke and began to edge away from the Dutchman and Sylvester, as Szabo passed Errecart to lead his three Veteran rivals. But the Frenchman hit back and regained the Veteran advantage from Godon, Szabo and Morlaes, although he was passed by Godon near the finish. Hamelin reached the chequered flag with a 22.91-second advantage over Hoeke in the GP1 Expert class with Sylvester, Jeremy Rathoin, Alex Barret and Csongor Jászai completing the top six.
Ski Junior 3.3 Moto win for Arthebise
Ski Junior 3.3 riders from seven countries lined up for the final Moto of the afternoon. Belgian Maxime Arthebise had pole from Hungary’s Lajos Komonyi, Montenegrin Mio Petrovic, the UAE’s Mansour Abuljadayel and Quentin Duporte of France.
Arthebise held his line to conserve the lead from Komonyi, Duporte, Abuljadayel and Petrovic through the opening lap and began to edge away from his closest challengers. Komonyi then hit trouble, lost over a minute on his second lap and slipped to the foot of the rankings, albeit just ahead of the struggling Norwegian Adrian Kristoffersen and Sweden’s Pelle Stenborg.
Duporte took up the pursuit of the Belgian but it was to no avail and Arthebise reached the finish 26.57 seconds in front of the Frenchman. Mio and Via Petrovic and a resurgent Komonyi rounded off the top five after late problems for Abuljadayel.