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Sunday, September 28: Corsica’s François Medori, Italy’s Davide Di Maio and Spaniard Ian Traba Arce clinched UIM-ABP Aquabike Class Pro Offshore World Championship success in their respective Runabout GP1, GP2 and GP3 Grand Prix on Sunday.
Twenty-three racers competed across the three classes in four Motos at the UIM-ABP Aquabike Class Pro Offshore Grand Prix of Puglia. Medori completely dominated the overall results and claimed all four wins in the GP1 class. Traba Arce also managed a clean sweep of GP3 heat wins, but Matthias Giraldo and Davide Di Maio shared a pair of wins apiece in GP2, with Di Maio going on to win the world title.
Behind Medori, Mathis Vincendeau and Alain Tarzia rounded off the podium places in GP1. Giraldo narrowly missed out on GP2 success to Di Maio but finished second ahead of Cyril Destro, while Juri Tiozzo and Ezio Lucchese shadowed Traba Arce to the GP3 podium.
The podium ceremony took place at the scenic amphitheatre in Torre Dell’Orso to wrap up a memorable weekend of offshore racing on the Adriatic Sea. Feedback from competitors was more than favourable with teams and racers enjoying the stunning race location and the warm hospitality of the Puglia people.
MOTO 4 SUCCESSES FOR MEDORI, DI MAIO AND TRABA ARCE
Medori lined up at the start of the final Moto with an 11-point cushion over Barret in the quest to win the GP1 title. Giraldo’s advantage over Di Maio in GP2 had been cut to just three points, while Traba Arce had a nine-point cushion over Tiozzo in GP3.
Medori was content to settle into a safe pace to preserve his Easy Rider Kawasaki and he shadowed GP2 leader Di Maio early in the last Moto with Tarzia, Barret and Vincendeau trailing in his wake in GP1. Cyril Destro. Giraldo and Giuseppe Parrilla were Di Maio’s closest GP2 challengers, while Traba Arce was out in front of Tiozzo and Lucchese in GP3. Frederik Brandao, Luigi Borzacchiello, Denis Lorentz and Vincent Thomas were not among the 19 starters.
By one-third distance, Di Maio remained ahead of Medori and the Corsican held his own against Tarzia. Barret and Vincendeau in GP1. Traba Arce remained on course for the GP3 title. Medori and Tarzia passed the GP2 front-running Di Maio on lap 10.
There were no late dramas for Medori and the Corsican claimed the clean sweep of Moto successes with Di Maio and Traba Arce prevailing in GP2 and GP3.
Medori said: “I feel really good. The racing was very hard. Four Motos of one and a half hours each. I knew that anything could happen in this type of race. I lose so many titles in my career before. I knew that I had to finish all the Motos to win. I pushed everything I could to win the championship. I am really happy for my team Easy Rider. They worked a lot on the ski and we had no problems. We are really happy with this result.”
MEDORI, DI MAIO AND TRABA ARCE STRIKE GOLD IN MOTO 3
Medori, Di Maio and Traba Arce topped the standings in the Runabout GP1, GP2 and GP3 categories in the third of the offshore Motos on Sunday morning.
Medori carried out his usual strategy of pushing to the maximum from the outset and the Corsican carved out an early GP1 lead over his closest rivals, Tarzia, Barret and Vincendeau. By lap six, Di Maio was running ahead of Destro and Giraldo in GP2 and Traba Arce had the early advantage in GP3. Lorentz and Thomas were non-starters.
Medori continued to lead the way through 10 laps, although Barret managed to pass Tarzia and grab second place in GP1, with Di Maio pulling away from Giraldo, Giuseppe Parrilla and Destro in GP2. Traba Arce continued to lead from Tiozzo and Lucchese in GP3.
Refuelling played a factor in the racing strategies around the 14th to 17th-lap mark and Vincendeau snatched the lead when Medori and Barret took on fuel. Medori regained the lead on lap 19 and began to press home his advantage again with eight laps left to run. Tiozzo led the way in GP3 from Lucchese and Traba Arce with Di Maio holding off Giraldo in GP2.
Medori held on to claim his third Moto win of the weekend by 2min 21.62sec, with Barret coming home in second ahead of Vincendeau, Tarzia and Michele Cadei.
Medori also had the fastest lap of 2min 32sec. He said: “I was really tired. I had a pain in my wrist and pain everywhere. The journey of yesterday was really hard but winning this Moto was important. It means that I can manage my ski and manage myself for Moto 4. But I want to be on the podium for Moto 4. I think I can finish the last Moto in position four or five to win the championship, but I need to manage the ski to finish the race. But the Moto is really long and anything can happen. I will need to focus to the maximum.”
Di Maio got the better of Giraldo, Parrilla and Destro in GP2 to keep the fight for the title wide open but Traba Arce made it three GP3 wins from three heats with success over Tiozzo and Lucchese. Luigi Borzachiello retired from the GP2 contest after four laps and Frederik Brandao only completed 14 laps in GP1.