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Sunday, September 7: The French duo of Jessica Chavanne and Jéremy Perez and Italian veteran Roberto Mariani provisionally confirmed European Championship titles in the Ski Ladies GP1, Runabout GP1 and Freestyle categories at the Grand Prix of Vichy in France on Sunday.
Estelle Poret, Quinten Bossche and François Medori won the second of the Ski Ladies GP1, Ski Division GP1 and Runabout GP1 Motos and those successes have put them in excellent position to try and win the Grand Prix in Sunday afternoon’s final Moto of the season in the UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship.
Poret takes Ski Ladies GP1 Moto 2 win to throw Grand Prix wide open
French girl Estelle Poret delighted her home fans with a thrilling victory in the second of the Ski Ladies GP1 Motos on Sunday morning. The Fast Powersports rider managed to get the better of Moto 1 winner Benedicte Drange by just 2.96 seconds to take the heat win and close to within two points of the Norwegian in the battle for Grand Prix honours.
Poret said: “I started three and I pushed myself to the limit. I passed Jessica (Chavanne) and then Benedicte made a mistake, so I passed first and I finished first. I am very happy because, yesterday, I did not give my all. Today, I did and it worked.”
Jessica Chavanne is already assured of the European Championship title and rounded off the podium places in the Moto, the French girl finishing a long way ahead of Naomi Benini, World Champion Jasmiin Ypraus, Virginie Morlaes and Joana Graça. Lou Dardillat was docked 25 seconds for a jump start and finished the Moto in eighth place.
Chavanne now holds third in the Grand Prix standings, just five points behind Drange to set up the prospect of a fascinating showdown for honours in Vichy at the final Moto.
Bossche earns his second Ski GP1 win in Vichy
Quinten Bossche may not be in title contention for the Ski Division GP1 European Championship but the Belgian continued to upset the applecart this weekend by winning Moto 2 by 21.38 seconds.
The Fast Powersports racer started on pole and was able to stay clear of the two riders locked in a battle for the European Championship. Oliver Koch Hansen is one of those riders and second place for the Dane could be crucial at the close of play on Sunday. The Prowatercraft racer earned a previous 22 points and closed the gap on the third-placed series leader Mickael Poret to just six points.
Valentin Dardillat finished the Moto in fourth, ahead of Kerto Kase, Jéremy Poret, Yoni Hamelin and eighth-placed Daniele Piscaglia. Tanguy Meziere retired on the opening lap.
Bossche’s second Moto win means he takes a six-point advantage over Koch Hansen and a 10-point cushion over Mickael Poret into the final Moto in his quest to win the Grand Prix.
Medori wins Runabout GP1 Moto 2; Perez confirms European title
Fresh from winning the fourth of his Endurance Motos, Corsican super star François Medori showed a clean pair of heels to all his rivals in the second of the Runabout GP1 heats. Medori managed to stay well clear of Jéremy Perez to reach the chequered flag 25.47 seconds ahead of the Frenchman.
But Perez was more than happy with second place as it provisionally confirmed that he had sealed the European Championship title with one Moto to spare. The Frenchman said: “I had a good start and I took the hole shot. Then I make a mistake, I missed a buoy and François passed me. I managed to finish second and I am very happy to finish.”
Title rival Robin Laforge came home in third ahead of Pierre-François Savelli and it looks as though they will finish in similar positions in the overall European Championship. Martin Doulík, Petr Dryják, Florian Bardoux and Lino Araújo rounded off the leading eight finishers in the Moto.
In terms of the Grand Prix, Medori heads into the final Moto with an eight-point lead over Perez and a 10-point cushion over Savelli.
Mariani retains his Freestyle title with Moto 2 win
Another acrobatic masterclass by defending champion Roberto Mariani was sufficient for the Italian veteran to win his second Moto of the weekend and retain his European crown.
He scored 168 points on the judges’ cards to beat fellow countryman Massimo Accumolo by 13 points, again outscoring his rival on quality and variety of his finely-tuned flips, spins, somersaults. Accumolo finished the season in third place ahead of Portugal’s Paulo Nuñes