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Saturday, September 5: Former and current World Champions proved their pedigree in their opening Motos in Vichy, with the GP1 races dominated by some of the sport’s most decorated stars. The afternoon then saw the start of the Moto 2 races, as riders now prepare for Sunday, the final day of racing in this year’s UIM-ABP Aquabike European Continental Championship.

Moto 1

Absent from the European Championship so far this season, current World Champion Francois Medori wasted no time in making his mark, delivering one of his trademark race wins. The Frenchman started from pole position and, after taking the holeshot, looked in complete control throughout the race.

From the opening lap, he began building a lead over the chasing Jeremy Perez, who eventually crossed the finish line in second place, 29.89 seconds behind Medori. Perez’s chances of retaining his European title were nevertheless greatly enhanced in Moto 1, as his closest challenger, Pierre-Francois Savelli, received a two-lap penalty for missing a safety demarcation buoy. The penalty dropped Savelli to seventh position, giving Perez some much-needed breathing room at the top of the standings.

There was once again no stopping Quinten Bossche, as the flying Belgian continued his unbeaten streak this season after taking the Ski GP1 holeshot and leading the race from start to finish. Never complacent, Bossche kept pushing throughout the race to build an insurmountable advantage that secured him the win, crossing the finish line 46.44 seconds ahead of second-placed Valentin Dardillat.

The tightest battle was for third place, with Alec Enderli, Daniele Piscaglia and Jayden Richardson locked together as they fought for the final podium position. Piscaglia eventually prevailed, with Richardson an agonising 1.47 seconds behind, while Enderli was forced to settle for fifth, just 1.32 seconds behind Richardson.

Estelle Poret was back to her best in Ski Ladies GP1, as the current World Champion led from start to finish to claim the full 25 points. Poret’s main threat throughout the race came from fellow Frenchwoman Jessica Chavanne, who remained close behind but was unable to find an opportunity to take the lead.

Poret managed the race perfectly and eventually crossed the finish line with a 10.69-second advantage over second-placed Chavanne. Virginie Morlaes crossed the line in third but was handed a 30-second penalty for an anticipated start, dropping her to seventh place.

Current Ski Ladies leader Benedicte Drange never found her usual pace and cruised to a fourth-place finish. More worryingly for her championship hopes, however, was the sizeable 62.72-second gap between herself and race winner Poret.

Massimo Accumulo arrived in Vichy with a single-point advantage over current European Champion Roberto Mariani in the Freestyle standings, meaning this year’s title would hinge on the results of the final round of the season.

Accumulo delivered his usual combination of tricks and flips, earning 187 points from the judges, but Mariani went one better with a polished, textbook routine that earned him 199 points. Mariani therefore heads into Moto 2 in the lead, with Accumulo trailing by just two points.

Moto 2

Mattias Siimann kept his hopes of claiming the Runabout GP2 title alive after securing victory in Moto 2. Current championship leader Karl Keskula dropped valuable points following his Moto 1 win, finishing third in Moto 2 behind Henri Koppas, whose second-place finish marked his best result of the season so far.

The battle between Siimann and Keskula therefore goes down to the final Moto, with both riders having proved themselves capable of triumphing in Vichy.

Robin Sylvester returned to winning ways in Ski GP2, overtaking Daan Hoeke early in Moto 2 before controlling the remainder of the race to claim the full 25 points. Once passed by Sylvester, Hoeke was unable to maintain the pace required to stay at the front of the pack and was eventually pushed down to fourth following overtakes by his brother Luuk and then Berny Gueniau.

Despite starting from first place, Daan Hoeke crossed the finish line a significant 42.10 seconds behind race winner Sylvester.

In Ski GP3/Junior GP3.3, Leo Kete returned to top form to take the race win after overtaking Moto 1 winner Bram Hoeke. Once in the lead, Kete drew on his winning experience and gradually extended the gap, eventually finishing 15.04 seconds ahead of Michael Van Reybroeck, who took second place after overtaking Hoeke and pushing the Dutchman down to third.

Jose Vainio’s dominance in Runabout GP4 came to an unexpected end in Moto 2, as the young Finn’s bike failed to deliver its usual pace and Vainio steadily lost positions throughout the race.

Arti Molter took full advantage, seizing the lead and going on to win the race, while Vainio languished in sixth place. The result has dramatically reduced Vainio’s championship lead over Molter to just three points, meaning the European Runabout GP4 Championship will be decided in the very last Moto of the season.

Racing in Vichy went from bad to worse for current Runabout Ladies GP4 leader Alizée Vanden-Blecken. Rather than moving up the order following her fifth-place finish in Moto 1, she slipped even further down the field, finishing sixth in Moto 2.

Her saving grace came when title rival and Moto 1 winner Nikola Dryjakova retired from the race after six laps and therefore failed to score any points. However, Vanden-Blecken’s position at the top of the standings now faces a significant threat from Michelle Dimov, who finished second behind race winner Aurora Filiberti.