News
Mira, Friday, July 3: Today marked the first day of racing for the opening round of the UIM Aquabike European Continental Championship in Mira, Portugal, with qualifying taking place for all categories, and the first of the Moto 1 races closing out an action-packed opening day.
GP1 Qualifiers
Owing to the high number of registered riders for Ski GP1, the 30 riders were split into two randomly selected groups of 15 for qualifying, with the top nine of each group automatically qualifying for tomorrow’s race, and then a further four of the remaining 12 riders joining them following a final run-off round.
Australian rider Jayden Richardson was the star of the first group, beating former World Champion Quinten Bossche by almost a second to take first place in the group. “The track was good with a great layout,” Richardson said, “A lot of good riders with a tough heat, but we’ll see how tomorrow goes”. The shock of the group came at the other end of the table, as last year’s winner in Mira Morgan Poret fell just short of the top nine, coming tenth and forcing the Frenchman into the run-off round.
In the second qualifying group, the other two of the three Poret brothers competing in the category did significantly better, with Jeremy Poret coming first and Mickael Poret coming second. As has often been the case throughout the years, only the finest of margins separated the two brothers, with Jeremy securing a lap 0.08 seconds quicker than Mickael’s on the very last lap of the qualifying session to claim the top spot.
The pressure was then on for the 12 riders vying for the four spots that would see them compete in the weekend’s Grand Prix. Morgan Poret immediately set the tone in his first lap, achieving a time of 1:46.82 seconds that catapulted him to the top of the table from the get go. Only Matteo Benini was able to surpass him, putting in an impressive performance on his third lap to beat Poret to the top spot by 1.62 seconds. Axel Courtois and Maxence Russel did enough to secure their places in the Grand Prix of Mira, claiming the third and fourth spots, whilst the rest of the remaining riders were sent packing.
Jeremy Perez started where he left off last year in Mira, achieving the fastest pace in the Runabout GP1 category on his opening qualifying lap and claiming pole position for tomorrow’s Moto 1. However, Perez’s place at the top is by no means dominant this time, with Robin Laforge and Samuel Johansson coming just 0.58 and 0.78 seconds behind Perez respectively. “It was not easy because [Robin] Laforge and Samuel [Johansson] pushed very close to me” commented Perez “but I did a good lap on the first lap – I’m very happy”
They make up the top three of the 13 rider pack in Runabout GP1.
Current World Champion Estelle Poret continued her world beating form to take the pole in Ski Ladies GP1, achieving her best time on her first lap and claiming the top spot by a comfortable 3.01 seconds. “I’m really happy to get the first pole position of the international season here in Mira” declared a satisfied Poret. Benedicte Drange dominated racing in Mira last year, winning all three Motos, but this season will be starting Moto 1 from second place, with current European Champion Jessica Chavanne just behind her in third.
Roberto Mariani already gave the crowds in Mira a taste of his routine as he performed during yesterday’s opening ceremony, and perhaps that extra practice gave him the edge as the current World and European Champion topped Freestyle qualifying. Massimo Accumolo replicated last year’s result in Mira by once again finishing second, and Steven Royer came third in the qualifiers on his debut in Mira.
Other Qualifiers
Finnish rider Jose Vainio had a successful morning in both the categories he is competing in, topping qualifying in Runabout GP4 Junior, and coming second in Runabout GP4, where he was beaten by Grantas Gurksnys who took the pole. The top of the table in Runabout GP4 proved tight, with just 1.30 seconds separating the top four riders’ best lap times. Meanwhile the most dominant performance of the morning belonged to Csongor Jászai, who topped the times in the Ski GP4 qualifiers with the only sub-two minute laps and came ahead of second-placed Daniils Potrivailo by 6.37 seconds.
Alizee Vanden-Blecken claimed the pole in Runabout GP4 Ladies by the slimmest of margins, achieving a best lap that was just 0.054 seconds quicker than second-placed Aurora Filiberti. Having won all three Ski GP3 Motos in Mira last year, Manuel Leite has given himself the best chance of repeating that feat by claiming pole position in qualifying.
A total of 19 riders battled it out in Runabout GP2 qualifying, with the Estonian pair of Mattias Siimann and Karl Keskula gaining the top spots, separated by just 0.35 seconds. The Estonians proved too fast for last year’s winner in Mira, Manuel Reggiani, who had to settle for starting in third place in tomorrow’s first Moto. Similarly, in Ski GP2 last year’s winner in Mira was dethroned from the top spot, with Daan Hoeke’s best time being 2.39 seconds slower than pole starter Robin Sylvester.
MOTO 1
Manuel Leite started as he finished in the Ski GP3/Junior GP3.3 Moto 1, securing the full 25 points and yet another win in Mira. However, he finished just 1.64 seconds in front of Leo Kete, suggesting that Leite will not be able to rest on his laurels and assume a repeat of last year’s sweep of all three Motos is any kind of guarantee.
Jose Vainio took the holeshot in Runabout GP4 after overtaking Grantas Gurksnys from his pole position. Once in the lead, Vainio maintained a flying pace, establishing a 5.80 second lead after just one lap. Shortly behind the two race leaders was Alejandro Palau, who gained a position from Arti Molter at the start to take him into third. Molter pushed hard to retake his position and make it back into the podium places, cutting down the gap between himself and Palau to just under one second by the eighth lap. Palau kept his cool, however, and crossed the finish line 1.22 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Molter. Gurksnys proved unable to retake his lead, finishing second, with Vainio crossing the finish line 2.78 seconds in front of him to claim the full 25 points.
Csongor Jászai led from the start in Ski GP4/Junior GP4, establishing a lead of 4.60 over second-placed Daniils Potrivailo by the first lap, which at 1:53.95 seconds proved to be the race’s fastest lap. Tomaz Kete gained a position from Maxime Arthebise on the third lap of the race to break into third place, with Arthebise’s pace drop seeing him briefly fall to fifth place the following lap, before the Belgian rediscovered his speed and went back up to fourth. There was almost late drama at the top as Kete narrowed the gap with second-placed Potrivailo to just 0.55 seconds by the penultimate lap, but it was too little too late for Kete who finished the race in third, with Potrivailo retaining second, and Jászai leading from start to finish to claim a dominant win by a margin of 36.17 seconds.
Alizee Vanden-Blecken took the holeshot in Runabout GP4 Ladies, though all eyes were on Aurora Filiberti who fell back from her second-place start into ninth position by the first lap after she failed to find her pace as the race got underway. Meanwhile Ester Rosin made a stunning leap through the racing pack, starting in twelfth place and slotting into fourth place by the first lap. As the race went on, Vanden-Blecken continued to extend her lead, ultimately winning the race by an 11.36 second margin. Nikola Dryjakova and Michelle Dimov each profited from Filiberti’s demise, gaining a position apiece to finish second and third respectively.