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Friday, July 4: A hectic opening session of the Grand Prix of Mira, Portugal saw all the categories take to the water for their free practice and qualifying sessions.
The majority of the regular contenders for the UIM-ABP Aquabike European Continental Championship are present in Portugal and several well-known names claimed pole positions in their respective categories.
Amongst the pole position winners were Lithuania’s Dovydas Kutra (Runabout GP4), Portugal’s Manuel Leite (Ski GP3), Jasmiin Ypraus (Ski Ladies GP1), Quinten Bossche (Ski GP1) and Jérémy Perez (Runabout GP1).
Runabout GP4 pole for Lithuania’s Kutra
Fifteen racers lined up for qualifying for the Runabout GP4 section and Lithuanian Dovydas Kutra earned pole position with a best lap of 1min 46.34sec to head an all-Lithuanian top three. Grantas Gurkšnys and Erikas Butkus were second and third, while Alejandro Prats-Palau – who had run strongly in the earlier free practice – was fourth ahead of fellow Spaniard Adrian Albuera Cobos.
The Estonian duo of Arti Mölter and Henri Koppas qualified just outside the top five in sixth and seventh positions. Poland’s Juliusz Roman leads the series from Prats Palau and Butkus after the opening three Motos in Poland last month. Pole-winning Kutra is fifth on his Seadoo.
Steinberg snatches Ski GP2 pole
Seven riders taking part in the competitive Ski GP2 category were next on to the water. The series-leading Mattias Reinass was not among the qualifiers but his closest challengers, Daan Hoeke, Karl Joosep Steinberg and Luuk Hoeke, were in the group pushing for pole position.
Steinberg laid down the early gauntlet with a lap of 1min 37.21sec and that was sufficient for the Estonian to beat his fellow countryman Marlon Tiik to pole position. Daan and Luuk Hoeke qualified in third and fourth, ahead of Portugal’s Martim Marques, Emirati Mansour Abuljadayal and Marten Tiik of Estonia.
Filiberti on pole in Runabout Ladies GP4
Nikola Dryjakova came into the race weekend with a six-point lead over Ester Rosin in the Runabout Ladies GP4 standings with Carmen Roosmaa just three points further adrift in third place. The Czech faced 10 rivals in Portugal, although Roosmaa was not on the list.
Rosin and Nicole Cadei were strong in free practice, although Estonia’s Katriin Nilbe eventually topped the session from French girl Alizée Vanden Blecken. Ilaria Vanni then ran strongly in qualifying to get the better of fellow Italian Cadei, Dryjakova, Nilbe, Rosin and Kimily Lepp.
But a results issue meant that the qualifying session needed to be reviewed by race officials and Aurora Filiberti was later handed pole position with a fastest lap of 1min 45.488sec. Dryjakova qualified in second from Nilbe and Lepp with the Italian duo of Vanni and Cadei down in sixth and ninth in the revised standings.
Ski GP3 pole for Leite; Kete on top in Ski Junior GP3.3
The seven-strong Ski GP3 category was merged with the Ski Juniors 3.3 section for free practice and qualifying. Hungary’s Csongor Jaszai led the Ski GP3 section after round one but was not registered at the Portuguese race. That left the door open for his Belgian rivals, Loris Lambert and Michael van Reybroeck, to close in on the European Championship lead.
Local rider Manuel Leite drew first blood with a lap of 1min 46.80sec to move ahead of van Reybroeck, Lambert and Alexandre Bourgeois. Bram Hoeke displaced the Frenchman to snatch fourth but Leite held on to claim pole on his Yamaha from van Reybroeck and Lambert.
Runaway leader Leo Kete arrived in Portugal with a maximum 75 points from his Poland outing in round one and got the better of rival Maxime Arthebise in Ski Junior GP3.3 qualifying.
Runabout GP4 Junior pole for series leader Leinsalu
Estonia’s Rihard Leinsalu arrived in Portugal with a single-point lead over Aurora Filiberti in the Runabout GP4 Junior category and a two-point cushion over Adas Zalagaitis of Lithuania. All three riders were among the seven registered for free practice and pole position in Portugal.
Filiberti made the early running from Leinsalu, Kimily Lepp, Zalagaitis and Katrina Sepp but Leinsalu hit the front soon after with a tour of 1min 43.67sec and that put the Estonian well clear of Sepp and Lepp in an Estonian 1-2-3. Finland’s Jose Vainio moved up to fourth at the expense of Zalagaitis and Filiberti.
After several timing glitches had been revised, Leinsalu was handed pole by 0.48 seconds from Filiberti with Zalagaitis, Lepp, Sepp, Ayrton Cecere and Vainio rounding off the qualifiers.
Pole position in Ski GP4 for Mezière
Four riders lined up for Ski GP4 practice and qualifying and all of them had competed in the opening round in Poland. Mathys Mezière arrived in Mira with an 11-point cushion over fellow Frenchman Lucas Mouchotte with Grantas Gurkšnys and Daniils Potrivailo holding third and fourth.
Mezière laid down the gauntlet with a potent early lap of 1min 43.10sec and that put the Frenchman ahead of Potrivailo, Gurkšnys and Mouchotte. He extended his lead with a 1min 40.9sec flier and that was enough to claim pole for the opening Moto by 4.37 seconds. His three rivals held their positions to the finish of the session.
Runabout GP2 pole falls to Claerhout
Lithuania’s Domantas Vaznys had dominated the opening Runabout GP2 round in Poland and headed the nine-strong starting line-up in Portugal. Three of his four closest rivals for European Championship glory were not present in Mira, although the start list included a couple of new faces like Estonia’s Patrick Moora and Italy’s Stefano Castro Novo.
Vaznys was quickest from Castro Novo in free practice but the Seadoo rider needed to carry that pace through to qualifying. Belgian Tom Claerhout opened his account with a lap of 1min 26.04sec to hit the front early in the session and that was enough to fend off Manuel Reggiani, Miguel de Oliveira and Alejandro Prats Palau through the opening minutes.
Vaznys hit the front midway through the stint with a time of 1min 24.22sec, ran even faster with a 1min 23.29sec flier and that was enough to earn the series leader pole position from Claerhout, Reggiani, Prats Palau, Fábio Costa and Daniel Hernández.
But Vaznys was later docked his two fastest laps for course cutting and pole was awarded to Claerhout from Reggiani and Prats Palau. Moora earned himself a yellow card and had his best lap cancelled for dangerous driving. He qualified at the rear of the field in ninth.
Ski Ladies GP1 pole for Ypraus
Jessica Chavanne had won all three of the Polish Motos and arrived in Mira with an 11-point lead over Virginie Morlaes in the Ski Ladies GP1 standings. A first Moto retirement in Poland had pushed the current World Champion Jasmiin Ypraus down to ninth in the standings.
Eight of the fastest girls in the world lined up for free practice and qualifying, including defending European champion Benedikte Drange - who had missed the opening round in Poland - and the returning Estelle Poret. Ypraus carded the target time of 1min 33.35sec on her opening lap on her Kawasaki and held the early advantage over Drange, Poret and Naomi Benini.
A troubled Chavanne was at the rear of the field after six minutes of qualifying and then moved up to fourth behind Ypraus, Drange and Poret.
Ypraus held on to claim pole from Drange, Chavanne, Poret and Morlaes, even though the latter had her best lap cancelled for course cutting. Lou Dardillat was also penalised fir course violations and was down in eighth.
Ypraus said: “I feel happy. It is the first competition for us before the World Championship in August. I hadn’t raced since Poland but it seems the ski was working and that was nice.”
Pole position in Ski GP1 for Bossche
Mickael Poret won two of the three Polish Ski GP1 Motos to hold a three-point lead over defending World Champion Quinten Bossche heading into Portuguese qualifying. Twenty-one riders lined up at the start of free practice and qualifying but Belgian Xavier Pessleux was a non-starter.
The championship leader opened his account with a lap of 1min 38.50sec but Bossche shaved 2.81 seconds off that to snatch the early advantage on his Fast Powersports ski. Morgan Poret then ran quicker than his older brother and Valentin Dardillat and Alec Enderli also found a way past the Frenchman’s time. Mickael Poret climbed back to fourth at the expense of Enderli.
Bossche held on to claim pole position by 0.41 seconds with Morgan and Mickael Poret sandwiching Dardillat in a French second, third and fourth and Enderli qualifying in fifth ahead of Oliver Koch Hansen. Jéremy Poret was down in seventh. Bossche said: “Very good. I am here to develop our new boat. I made a good lap and have pole for the first Moto. I am very happy.”
Runabout GP1 pole for in-form Perez
Two wins from three starts in Poland had given Jérémy Perez a slender three-point advantage over the current World Champion Samuel Johansson in the Runabout GP1 category. Johansson was not among the 14 starters in Mira qualifying but third and fourth-placed Robin Laforge and Lino Araùjo were in attendance.
Frenchman Pierre-François Savelli opened his account with an early lap of 1min 25.41sec to take the lead but that time was soon surpassed by Perez, Martin Doulik and Florian Bardoux. Laforge, Araùjo and Petr Dryjak rounded off the early top six until Dane Rasmus Kock Hansen stormed up to third.
Perez was the class of the field on his Seadoo and his best lap of 1min 19.10sec was 3.90 seconds quicker than Savelli and gave the Frenchman pole position. Behind Savelli, Doulik, Koch Hansen, Bardoux and Andrzej Wisniewski rounded off the leading six qualifiers. Savelli then had his best two laps cancelled for course cutting and slipped to fifth behind Perez, Doulik, Koch Hansen and Bardoux. Laforge and Araùjo qualified in seventh and eighth.
Perez said: “I am very happy to get pole position here in Portugal. The track is very good and the set-up of my ski is perfect. We are ready for the race for tomorrow. Today is the anniversary of when I lost my father 11 years ago, so it’s for him.”