Friday, July 19: Moto 1 victories in the Ski GP3, Runabout GP4 and Ski GP4 categories fell to Croatia’s Dorijan Jakopanec, Czech racer Peter Dryjak and talented Belgian Yoni Hamelin after a frenetic day’s action on a new circuit off Zámoly Beach at an old quarry lake in Győrzámoly, near Győr.
The city is hosting the Grand Prix of Hungary, round one of the 2024 UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship, and the first three Motos and all free practice and qualifying sessions were held on Friday.
Ski GP3 Moto 1 win for Dorijan Jakopanec
Belgian Yoni Hamelin began the opening Ski GP3 Moto from pole position with Dorian Jakopanec and Barnabas Szabo lining up in second and third of the 13 starters. But Jakopanec snatched the lead early on and opened up a 3.04-second lead through lap one with Hamelin, Szabo, Marten Tiik and Loris Lambert running in the top five.
The leading quintet held station through lap three and the Croatian held on to reach the chequered flag with a winning margin of 5.12 seconds after 11 laps from Hamelin. Szabo, Tiik, Lambert and Markus Erlach of Hungary rounded off the top six. Csaba Süli was pushed down to seventh after incurring a 25-second penalty for not maintaining his lane at the start.
Jakopanec said: “The race was amazing. I had a good start and led the whole race. The track is fantastic and the organisation is amazing. Everything went well.”
Early bragging rights in Runabout GP4 for Petr Dryjak
Estonia’s Henri Koppas headed Czech rival Petr Dryjak and Mateusz Hepner of Poland from the start of the opening Runabout GP4 Moto, which featured 13 entrants. Dryjak managed to pass Koppas to gain the advantage and Hepner slipped to fifth behind fellow countryman Juliusz Roman and Ibiza-based Spaniard Alejandro Prats Palau through the opening lap.
Koppas maintained the pressure on the leader as the leading duo began to edge clear of the chasing pack. The Czech racer held his nerve and continued to lead from the Estonian through nine laps. He eventually took the chequered flag 3.98 seconds ahead of Koppas with Roman, Prats Palau, Michele Cadei and Hepner rounding off the top six. Alberto Santini was give a two-lap penalty for course cutting and was classified in 13th.
Dryjak said: “I was feeling great in this Moto. The circuit is really fast, really technical. The other riders were super-fast so the race was perfect. Now we are looking for the best for tomorrow. I hope everything will be okay.”
Opening Ski GP4 glory for Yoni Hamelin
Yoni Hamelin was also on pole for the opening Ski GP4 Moto and started ahead of young Estonian Ander Hubert Lauri, Latvia’s Daniils Potrivailo, Jennifer Poret, Christina Mahringer and Grantas Gurksnys.
Poret managed to pass Potrivailo on the opening lap and moved up to third and Gurksnys got ahead of Mahringer, as Hamelin finished the first lap with a 4.28-second lead. The six riders held their positions into lap three and Lauri was able to stay in touch with the leading Belgian. He reduced the deficit to 2.64 seconds after four laps and to 1.36 seconds after six.
But Hamelin held on to snatch the opening Moto win by 2.14 seconds after 11 laps, with Lauri finishing second and a long way ahead of Poret, Potrivailo, Gurksnys and Mahringer.
Hamelin said: “I had a real good battle with Lauri. He pushed me to the limit. He weas behind me and it was really fun. I managed to stay in front and I am looking forward to the next race.”
The remaining five free practice and qualifying sessions kick-started the afternoon’s action and nine Ski GP2 riders were first on to the water. Csongor Jászai is one of Hungary’s top bikers and he prevailed on home waters to snatch pole position with a best run of 1min 19.9sec to win the session by 1.55 seconds from Dutchman Daan Hoeke. Marlon Tikk of Estonia qualified third and Luuk Hoeke and Portugal’s Matteo Valente filled the other places in the top five.
Seventeen Runabout GP2 racers tackled free practice and qualifying and Frenchman Pierre-François Savelli topped the times with a lap of 1min 16.16sec in the pole position stint from Czech Petr Dryjak and local rider Levente Kacor.
Seven of the world’s fastest Ski Ladies GP1 riders lined up to try and claim pole position in the absence of last year’s Grand Prix of Hungary winner and defending European Champion Jessica Chavanne. Estonia’s Jasmiin Ypraus was the pre-weekend favourite and prepared for qualifying alongside Sofie Borgström and Janina Johansson of Sweden, Virginie Morlaes of France, Portugal’s Joana Graça, Italy’s Naomi Benini and Norwegian Benedicte Drange.
Ypraus topped the times by over five seconds in the practice session with a best run of 1min 20.46sec on her Kawasaki and the current World Championship leader was not to be denied in qualifying either: she carded a stunning best lap of 1min 17.95sec to snatch pole from Drange, Borgström, Benini, Morlaes, Graça and Johansson.
A 24-strong group of racers tackled a very competitive qualifying session in Ski GP1. Morgan Poret laid down the early gauntlet with a run of 1min 18.15sec and moved to the top of the leader board ahead of Oliver Koch Hansen, Mickaël Poret, Valentin Dardillat and Axel Courtois with four French racers in the top five.
Austrian racer Kevin Reiterer claimed pole on his Kawasaki, however, with a very late run of 1min 16.41sec with Australia’s Jayden Richardson finishing 0.87 seconds behind in second. Morgan Poret, Oliver Koch Hansen, Mickaël Poret and Dardillat rounded off the final top six in qualifying.
Eighteen runners in the flagship Runabout GP1 section were the last to carry out their free practice and qualifying sessions. Seventeen of the riders opted to use a Sea-Doo ski with Italy’s Lorenzo Benaglia the sole entrant on a Yamaha, although he failed to start the qualifying session.
World Championship leader Samuel Johansson stormed to the top of the leader board with an early lap of 1min 06.94sec. But the Swede was robbed of pole in the dying seconds by Czech racer Martin Doulik Junior. He carded a last-gasp 10th lap of 1min 06.58sec to win the stint by 0.36 seconds.
Hungary’s György Kasza and Levente Kacor qualified third and fourth and Ruben Jimenez Riquelme of Spain and Frenchman Guillaume Hemain rounded off the top six.
The opening ceremony for the Grand Prix of Hungary takes place this evening before a spectacular session of Freestyle action on the Danube-Rába confluence in front of the Kossuth Bridge with free practice preceding Moto1.
Eight further Moto 1s follow from 09.00hrs on Saturday morning 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 in the afternoon and Freestyle free practice precedes a welcome dinner.