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Sunday, June 1: Lithuania’s Vaznys Domantas and the French duo of Jessica Chavanne and Jérémy Perez won the second of the three Runabout GP2, Ski Ladies GP1 and Runabout GP1 Motos that got the hectic on-water action underway at the Grand Prix of Poland on Jeziorskomeer on Sunday morning.
Domantas wins his second Runabout GP2 Moto
Vaznys Domantas had won the opening Runabout GP2 Moto and started on pole for the second heat that kickstarted Sunday’s hectic itinerary. The Lithuanian held his line from Petr Dryjak, Arnas Jakucionis and Justin Patzner through lap one. Tom Claerhout and Alejandro Prats Palau settled into fifth and sixth. Thirteen riders began the Moto but local rider Konrad Wróbel was a non-starter.
Mattias Siimann managed to move ahead of Claerhout and Prats Palau on lap five but Domantas had already forged his way into a 10-second lead over Dryjak at the front of the field. Siimann was on a charge and the talented Estonian displaced Jakucionis to take third place on lap seven, as Dryjak began to reel in Domantas in the fight for victory.
The Lithuanian managed to hold to take a second haul of 25 points with the flying Siimann and Dryjak wrapping up the podium places ahead of Jakucionis, Claerhout and Prats Palau. But there was disappointment for Siimann after the finish when he was penalised one lap for not respecting a penalty buoy. That pushed him down to eighth overall and, as a result, Dryjak, Jakucionis, Claerhout and Prats Palau rounded off the final top five behind Domantas. The Lithuanian takes an eight-point lead over Dryjak into the final Moto.
Chavanne wins second Ski Ladies GP1 Moto; Ypraus charges back to finish third
Former Jessica Chavanne had benefitted from the defending World Champion Jasmiin Ypraus’s mechanical breakdown in the first of the Motos to take the maximum 25 points. But Ypraus was out for revenge in Moto 2 from the rear of the eight-girl starting line-up.
Chavanne stayed in control through the opening turn buoys and through the first couple of laps and began to pull away from Virginie Morlaes, Lou Dardillat and Naomi Benini. But Ypraus was on a charge, moved into fifth place and began to close in on Benini. She passed the Italian on lap five and then displaced Dardillat on the next lap to move into third and, with the Moto still at half-distance, she had to somehow reduce Morlaes’s 17-second grip on second place.
The gap was down to 13 seconds through lap seven and to just under nine through lap eight, as Chavanne headed off into the distance at the front of the field. By lap nine, the gap was just under six seconds and it was 3,24 seconds after 10 tours of the course to set up a gripping finale to the Moto. Ypraus dropped precious seconds on the next one but clawed herself back within striking distance, only for the chequered flag to save Morlaes and hand Chavanne a dominant 30-second win and a second 25-point haul. Behind Ypraus, Dardillat and Benini finished fourth and fifth. Joana Graça only completed nine of the 13 laps.
Runner-up Morlaes said: “I do a good start and I tried to push a lot. I see Yasmiin coming. I am happy because she (Yasmiin) is really strong.”
Runabout GP1 win number two for Jérémy Perez
Frenchman Jérémy Perez and World Champion Samuel Johansson had controlled the pace in the first of the Runabout GP1 Motos and Perez was at it again at the start of Moto 2. He completed the opening two laps ahead of Portugal’s Lino Araùjo, Johansson, local star Andrzej Wisniewski, Linus Lindberg and debutant Robin Laforge.laf
Six laps in and the leaders held their positions with Perez pulling over four seconds ahead of the Portuguese, who was running four in front of Johansson. Pierre François Savelli managed to pass Laforge to grab sixth and then lost the place again. Lindberg lost two places on the next couple of laps but Perez had already surged into a 10-second lead and the flying Frenchman was not to be denied a second heat win of the weekend and another 25 points.
Araùjo and Johansson were locked in a tight duel for second place and the Swede crossed the finish line to take the 22 points with Araùjo in third. Wisniewski delighted his home fans with fourth and Laforge and Savelli rounded off the top six.