Friday, September 27: Yoni Hamelin, Petr Dryjak, Cyrielle Bramm, Mio Petrovic and Grantas Gurkšnys earned Moto 1 victories in their chosen race categories after a pulsating late afternoon’s racing at the Grand Prix of Mira in Portugal on Friday.
The event is being organised by Aquabike Promotion and the Federação Portuguesa de Motonáutica (FPM) and is the final round of the 2024 UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship.
Hamelin earns victory in opening Ski GP3 Moto
Belgian Yoni Hamelin started the opening Ski GP3 Moto on pole position from Loris Lambert, Martim Marques, Ludovic Bral, Bram Hoeke and Marlon Tiik. Marques made a strong start to the 15-minute race and led a stuttering Belgian by 1.66 seconds through lap one with Tiik, Leite and Luísa Beja running inside the top five. Lambert was down in sixth but Hoeke retired on the opening lap.
Marques was able to fend off a charging Hamelin through four laps until the Portuguese slipped up and plummeted to sixth with Hamelin securing the lead from Tiik, Leite and Beja. Lambert moved up to fifth. Hamelin held on to secure the 25 points with a 27.31-second win and extended his championship lead over Lambert to 40 points. Tiik, Leite, Beja and Lambert rounded off the top five after 11 laps of racing.
Hamelin said: “Moto 1 went not as expected. My ski did not start, then I managed to pass the second guy and spent the rest of the race in front.”
Dryjak snatches late Runabout GP4 Moto win
Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau Series had the advantage of pole position for the opening Runabout GP4 Moto with Michele Cadei, title rival Petr Dryjak, Dovydas Kutra and Juliusz Roman in close attention on their Sea-Doos. Local rider Carlos Paiva did not start.
Prats Palau held his advantage through the opening turn buoys and reached the end of lap one with a 4.27-second lead over Dryjak with Kutra, Roman and Ivan Pantoja running in third, fourth and fifth. The Spaniard maintained his lead over the next few laps as Cadei passed Pantoja to snatch fifth.
Dryjak was unable to close the gap on his rival until the Spaniard hit mechanical trouble nearing the last lap and slipped back to fifth place. The Czech duly earned the 25 points for an 8.26-second win over Kutra with Cadei, Roman and Rui Fernandes rounding off the top five when Prats Palau slipped even further back to eventually finish seventh after Pantoja was docked a lap for dangerous driving. Dryjak now leads Prats Palau by 29 points with two Motos remaining.
Dryjak said: “Moto 1 was so good. On the start I was second but, on the last lap, Alex Palau had some issues with the speed, so then I could overtake him and take the first place. I am super happy and super ready for Moto 2.”
Hamelin storms to Moto 1 success in Ski GP4
Yoni Hamelin also started on pole for the first of the weekend’s three Ski GP4 Motos. Aiming to extend his comfortable cushion in the European Championship, he lined up ahead of Daniils Potrivailo, Valentine Coutier, Jennifer Poret,Grantas Gurkšnys and Alexandre Girel.
The pole-sitter was the quickest out of the blocks and was already 9.78 seconds clear of Potrivailo through lap one, as Gurkšnys, Poret, Coutier and Girel settled into the remaining places. After 15 minutes and two additional laps of racing, the Belgian passed the chequered flag 33.49 seconds clear of Potrivailo to seal an emphatic win and increase his championship lead over Menard from 34 to 43 points. Poret slipped behind Coutier in the closing stages and finished fifth but Girel was later disqualified for a course violation.
Bramm on top in first Runabout Ladies GP4 Moto
Cyrielle Bramm lined up on pole for the opening Runabout Ladies GP4 Moto from Nikola Dryjakova, Astra Gurkšnyte, Nicole Cadei, title rival Ilaria Vanni and Markéta Hollerová.
Bramm made a good start and held her lead from Cadei but Volia Dzikovich stormed through the field to snatch third place. Gurkšnyte and Vanni were fourth and fifth. Bramm continued to edge clear of her rivals and eventually earned a 3.89-second win, maximum points and was able to increase her lead over Vanni from 11 to 18 points in the European Championship.
Cadei and Dzikovich rounded off the podium places until the Montenegrin was docked two laps after the race for course cutting. Her misfortune lifted Gurkšnyte into third and Vanni into fourth. Dryjakova, Hollerová, Luísa Beja and Dzikovich duly rounded off the classified finishers.
Moto 1 Ski Junior win for Mio Petrovic
Maxime Arthebise started the opening Junior Moto for Ski GP3.2 and GP3.3 entrants from pole position with Mio Petrovic, Milo Beernaut and Pelle Stenborg his closest challengers.
European Championship leader Mio Petrovic was the quickest out of the blocks on his Kawasaki and led from Arthebise, Stenborg, Via Petrovic and Beernaut through the opening lap. The Montenegrin continued to set the pace and managed to snatch the Moto win by just 1.81 seconds from Arthebise. Beernaut came home in third and Via Petrovic and Stenborg finished fourth and fifth.
Runabout GP4 Juniors success for Gurkšnys in Moto 1
Grantas Gurkšnys started the opening Runabout GP4 Juniors from pole position as he aimed to defend an eight-point lead over fellow Lithuanian Erikas Butkas in the European Championship. Dovydas Kutra, Aurora Filberti, Katarina Sepp, Butkas and Vojtěch Korcak were his closest pursuers from the start of the opening Moto.
Sepp made an excellent start but Gurkšnys managed to maintain his lead through lap one and began to edge clear of Sepp, Butkus, Rihard Leinsalu, Filberti, Adas Zalagaitis and Kutra. The Lithuanian’s lead was 10.27 seconds through lap three and he was able to seal the Moto win, the maximum 25 points and increase his championship lead over third-placed Butkus to 13 points with an eventual winning margin of 28.27 seconds. Sepp came home in second and Leinsalu and Filiberti finished fourth and fifth.