News

Mira, Saturday July 4th- Quinten Bossche took the holeshot in Moto 2 of Ski GP1 and flew off the start, achieving a fastest lap as he so often does of 1:39.16 seconds in his first lap. The start of Moto 2 saw Felix Helgeson gain a position on Valentin Dardillat to move into third place, while Morgan Poret also gained a position, moving from eighth to seventh. After four laps, Bossche had already established a lead of 13.45 seconds over second-placed Jeremy Poret.

The Belgian continued his flying form, building up a gap of 26.44 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line ahead of Jeremy Poret. Dardillat proved unable to take back his lost position from Helgeson, finishing in fourth place, 3.66 seconds behind the third-placed Swede. This means Dardillat and Helgeson go into Moto 3 with 38 points apiece in the standings, behind Jeremy Poret on 44 points, and Bossche with the full 50 points.

Ski Ladies GP1

Estelle Poret retained her lead after taking the holeshot, with Jessica Chavanne trailing shortly behind her. Emy Garcia started in third place, but a slow start saw her lose positions and tumble down to sixth place. Poret and Chavanne set their own rapid paces out in front of 1:40.00 and 1:40.78 seconds respectively on the first lap, almost five seconds quicker than third placed Benedicte Drange’s time of 1:45.73 seconds.

Poret was able to step up a gear as the race went on, establishing a lead of 12.85 seconds over Chavanne after four laps. Garcia managed to close the gap between herself and fifth-placed Lou Dardillat to 1.89 seconds after six laps as she tried to retake some of the positions she lost at the race’s start. Dardillat was able to hold her nerve though, crossing the finish line 3.40 seconds ahead of Garcia, and behind Siiri Salonen in fourth place, Drange in third, Chavanne in second, and Poret in first. However, a penalty of two laps for not having respected the safety demarcation saw Chavanne dropped to last in the Moto 2 standings. This gives Poret significant breathing room with her 50 points at the top of the standings with only Moto 3 to go, with Chavanne on only 32 points following her penalisation.

Freestyle

Steven Royer came first in his Freestyle Moto1 debut in Mira, after an impressive acrobatic routine that netted him 164 points from the judges. Massimo Accumolo once again had to settle for second in Mira after an impressive routine of his own that saw him awarded 152 points. Perhaps surprisingly, current World and European Champion Roberto Mariani, who dominated the Freestyle category last year in Mira, finished third, netting 132 points for his routine. The Italian was unable to compete with his own bike after suffering from engine issues, having to borrow Royer’s bike to complete his routine, with his unfamiliarity with the bike clearly hampering his ability to execute his routine to his usual high standards. Paulo Nunes was unable to compete in the Moto after his bike sank during an earlier practice session, with the bike yet to be recovered by the time the Moto started.

Ski GP2

A slow start from Karl Joosep Steinberg saw him drop from third to sixth place at the start of Moto 2, as Robin Sylvester claimed the holeshot to remain in the lead and Daan Hoeke followed shortly behind him. Once out front, Sylvester made full use of the calm water in front of him to achieve the best lap at 1:40.28 seconds, opening a significant gap over Hoeke. After his poor start, Steinberg upped his pace and overtook Pierre-Marie Vincentelli in the second lap to move up to fifth place, immediately putting his sights on fourth-placed Luke Thomson.

Sylvester’s strong early lead was gradually chipped away at by Hoeke, who managed to close the gap to 2.39 seconds by the fifth lap, then 1.31 seconds the following lap. Just as Hoeke was making his advance, the race was stopped by a red flag after Steinberg fell into the water and momentarily seemed non-responsive, heralding an early end to the race. This gave Sylvester his second Moto win of the weekend, and frustratingly for Hoeke meant he once again picked up 22 points in second place, putting him six points behind Sylvester in the overall rankings going into Moto 3.

Runabout GP2

Mattias Siimann faced an uphill battle to return to the top of the 19-rider racing pack, starting in fourteenth place after his penalty for riding over a buoy in Moto 1. The Estonian pushed his Seadoo bike from the off, and rose an astonishing ten places to slot into fourth by the first lap. Meanwhile at the front, Karl Keskula overtook Manuel Reggiani to take the holeshot and establish an early lead of 4.41 seconds after the first lap.

Siimann’s rise continued, overtaking Tom Claerhout after the first lap to rise to third place. The Estonian was clearly energised rather than exhausted by all his early overtakes, so set his sights on reducing the gap with second-placed Reggiani in front of him. Siimann wasted no time, overtaking Reggiani after three laps, then promptly taking the lead from Keskula. In less than seven-and-a-half minutes of racing, Siimann had therefore managed to overtake the majority of riders and rise from fourteenth to first place. As if that achievement were not impressive enough, Siimann spent the rest of the race increasing his lead, eventually finishing with a 15.02 seconds advantage. The Estonian is now back in contention for this Grand Prix, sitting in fifth place with 32 points in the standings, behind Reggiani on 45, Keskula on 44, and Romain Bardoux and Pierre-Marie Matelli on 34 points apiece. 

Runabout GP4

Grantas Gurksnys finished Moto1 in second place, but did not start Moto 2 due to a broken engine. This somewhat eased the pressure on Moto 1 winner Jose Vainio, as his main rival was out of the race, allowing the young Finn to take the holeshot and lead the race from the start. Alejandro Palau initially kept up with Vainio for the opening laps, but by the third lap Palau had already fallen 4.07 seconds behind the race leader.

Vainio’s advantage only increased as the race went on, finishing 18.01 seconds ahead of second-placed Palau, meaning Vainio has claimed all 50 of the points available so far in Mira. Arti Molter managed to remain on Palau’s tail, finishing 3.75 seconds behind him to take third place, but proving unable to mount any serious challenge to the Spaniard. 

Runabout GP4 Ladies

Alizee Vanden-Blecken took the holeshot following a strong start to Moto 2, whereas Nikola Dryjakova tumbled down the table from her second place start into seventh place by the first lap following a poor start from the Czech rider. Once going, Vanden-Blecken showed her quality to be a cut above the rest, with a 1:47.65 seconds lap time that was 3.44 seconds better than her next closest rival, Michelle Dimov in second place.

Vanden-Blecken managed to establish a gap of over ten seconds by the third lap, and it was smooth sailing from there on from the French rider, who seemed calmly in control for the rest of the race. She crossed the finish line 15.40 seconds ahead of Dimov, securing another 25 points and putting her firmly ahead going into the final Moto of Mira.

Runabout GP4 Junior

David Dvorak overtook Jose Vainio to take the holeshot in Moto 2, but Dvorak’s lead proved short-lived, as the Czech rider experienced technical problems before he managed to complete a single lap. This allowed Vainio to retake the lead, and Adele Reiner-Latoseva to slot into second place. Vainio comfortably led for the remainder of the race, crossing the finish line with a 6.53-second lead. 

Ski GP4/Junior GP4

Csongor Jászai took the holeshot, with Daniils Potrivailo behind him and Maxime Arthebise overtaking Tomaz Kete to move into third place at the beginning of Moto 2. As in Moto 1, Jászai wasted no time in establishing a healthy lead against the rest of the pack, running 6.63 seconds ahead after the first lap.

Kete continued to drop positions, getting overtaken by Grantas Gurksnys and Valentine Coutier to end up in sixth place by the third lap. Kete was not deterred by his loss of places, mounting a comeback and closing the gap with Coutier to just 1.04 seconds by the fourth lap, with the Slovak retaking fifth place on the sixth lap. Kete then turned his attention to Gurksnys, closing the gap to 2.45 seconds by the seventh lap. It took him until the ninth and final lap of Moto 2 to execute an overtake on Gurksnys, netting Kete fourth place. Jászai cruised to another comfortable win, netting him the full 50 points on offer so far in Mira, with Potrivailo finishing in second place and Arthebise in third place.

Ski GP3/Junior GP3.3

Manuel Leite squandered his lead in Moto 2 after being overtaken by Milo Beernaut and Leo Kete, both of whom soon established some distance from third-placed Leite. The battle was instead on for the top spot, and by the seventh lap, Kete reduced the gap on race leader Beernaut to just 1.81 seconds.

Kete continued to apply pressure on Beernaut, gaining valuable tenths of a second, but those gains proved insufficient, as Beernaut crossed the finish line 1.57 seconds ahead of Kete to claim the full 25 points. This marks the second successive Moto in which Kete has come second by the slimmest of margins, having finished just 1.64 seconds behind race leader Leite in Moto 1.