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Saturday, July 18: A busy morning of Moto 1 races in Gyor saw favourites dominate their races in the GP1 categories, with upsets in the GP2 categories that throw the Championship standings wide open ahead of this afternoon’s Moto 2 races.

Moto 1

Current European Champion Jeremy Perez had to fight to continue his winning streak going into Runabout GP1’s Moto 1, after Samuel Johansson eclipsed him to the pole position during qualifying yesterday. Perez explained his tactic going into the start of the race: “Yesterday I finished second in the pole position, very close to Johansson, and I decided to put myself behind (him), just close to him at the start”. This put immediate pressure on Johansson for the holeshot, with Perez breathing down his neck, and the Frenchman’s pace proved too great for the Swede, with Perez taking the lead from the race’s first straight.

“I passed him at the beginning and then I managed my race for the win,” Perez explained. His experience at managing race leads shone through, as he gradually increased his distance from second-placed Johansson throughout the race to cross the finish line with a healthy 14.54 second gap.

A shoulder injury meant that Mickael Poret was absent from Ski GP1’s first Moto, relinquishing his pole position to Championship leader Quinten Bossche. This allowed the pacey Belgian to once again lead from start to finish in Ski GP1 and pick up another 25 points, meaning he has now secured the full 100 points available so far this season.

“The track is very tight, very small with a lot of people, so it was very hard physically” Bossche said of his win, “but (I had a) nice start, good holeshot, good lead”. By the end, Bossche had more than just a good lead, crossing the finish line a huge 42.63 seconds ahead of second-placed Valentin Dardillat, who never looked close to catching up with Bossche once the Belgian flew off on the first lap.

Lou Dardillat was unable to capitalise on her pole position start in Ski Ladies GP1, after Benedicte Drange flew off the start to claim the holeshot before leading the rest of Moto 1 to secure the win. Jessica Chavanne ensured the Norwegian had to run a flawless race as she closely trailed the race leader throughout, pushing for the top spot on multiple occasions but never quite making the gap, and ultimately finishing 0.97 seconds behind Drange.

“I took the holeshot, but Jessica (Chavanne) was pushing all the way, but I ended up in P1” Drange said of the race. “It’s the first (win) of the season. It’s been a tough pre-season with injuries, but it’s good to be back. I don't have the complete pace I want yet, but to get one Moto win really motivates me, and I'm ready for the next one”. Meanwhile, Estelle Poret had another day to forget, after she was disqualified for running in the wrong direction. Following her perfect performance in Mira where she won all three Motos, her lack of any points in Gyor’s Moto 1 throws the Championship battle wide open.

Moto 1 seemed the best opportunity for Daan Hoeke to go one further than he had managed in Mira and claim his first Ski GP2 Moto win of the season given his pole position start, but it proved not to be for the Dutchman. The intense pressure from the other riders proved too much for the Dutchman, who squandered his pole position start by missing the holeshot and thereby facing a one lap penalty, meaning even though he crossed the finish line in second place, he finished tenth in the Moto 1 rankings.

Karl Joosep Steinberg put in a brilliant performance of his own to take and then secure the lead, claiming his first Moto win of the season. Robin Sylvester meanwhile proved unable to replicate the pace he had shown in Mira, where he won every Moto, coming in second position, 5.24 seconds behind Steinberg.

Karl Keskula extended his lead at the top of the Runabout GP2 standings after securing the Moto 1 win. Linus Lindberg was unable to hold onto his pole position start, falling back to fourth during Moto 1 as the speedy Estonian duo of Keskula and Mattias Siimann pulled away at the front, with Vaznyus Domantas not far behind them in third. Siimann pushed for the lead throughout the race, but Keskula was able to prevail, crossing the finish line with a 2.19 second lead. 

There was once again no stopping Jose Vainio in Runabout Junior GP4. Fresh from his three Moto wins in Mira, Vainio continued his winning streak by securing the Moto 1 win in Gyor, crossing the finish line 9.00 seconds ahead of his greatest challenger, second-placed David Dovrák.

As he had done in Mira, Leo Kete claimed the Moto 1 win in Gyor in Ski Junior GP3.3. The Slovenian led from start to finish, with Milo Beernaut never finding the requisite pace to mount a challenge as the Belgian finished in second place, 12.63 seconds behind Kete.