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Friday, May 30: A hectic several hours of racing kickstarted this weekend’s Grand Prix of Poland on Jeziorskomeer, near the village of Ostrów Warcki, on Friday morning.
Racers from a dozen disciplines took to the waters of the reservoir to shakedown their skis, carry out their first laps of free practice and then get stuck into a qualifying session to determine the line-ups for their opening Motos. The briefing and early free practice sessions were attended by Krystian Krogulecki, the Mayor of Warta.
The majority of Moto 1s will take place on Saturday morning but Croatia’s Dorijan Jakopanec, Alejandro Prats Palau and Mathys Mezière will attempt to win the first of the Ski GP3, Runabout GP4 and Ski GP4 Motos on Thursday afternoon after qualifying on pole position in their heats this morning.
Ski GP3 pole position for Jakopanec
Ten Ski GP3 entrants from seven countries were the first on to the water for their free practice and pole positions sessions. Portugal’s Martim Marques was the early pace setter from Hungary’s Csongor Jaszai and Manuel Leite. Marques carded the target lap of 1min 24.45sec in free practice.
But pole position times were what mattered and Dorijan Jakopanec hit the front early in qualifying with a run of 1min 18.24sec to move ahead of Leite and Jaszai. The Hungarian moved up to second with five minutes of the stint remaining and the leading trio held station to take the top three positions. The Belgian duo of Michael van Reybroeck and Loris Lambert were fourth and fifth.
Spaniard Prats Palau on pole in Runabout GP4
Fifteen riders took part in Runabout GP4 free practice and qualifying and Lithuania’s Karol Puzelevic was one of the free practice pace setters with a run of 1min 23.15sec. That lap topped the practice times from Dieter Aerts and Kutra Dovydas.
Alejandro Prats Palau had saved his best form for the qualifiers and the Ibiza-based Spaniard moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 1min 21.58sec early in the pole session. Grantas Gurkšnys managed to overall Prats Palau but the Spaniard launched a counter attack and a time of 1min 19.59sec saw him claim pole from Gurkšnys, Pole Juliusz Roman and Dovydas.
Mathys Mezière takes pole in Ski GP4
In Ski GP4 Gurkšnys made a quick changeover to join Latvia’s Daniils Potrivailo, the French duo of Mathys Mezière and Lucas Mouchotte. Mezière was the man in form in practice and he continued that form into qualifying with a run of 1min 18.76sec that moved him to the top of the standings.
That was sufficient to earn pole position from Mouchotte, Potrivailo and Gurkšnys.
Runabout Ladies GP4 pole for Dryjakova
Twelve of the 13 girls lined up for their practice and pole sessions. Kätriin Nilbe was one of the quickest out of the blocks only to be overtaken by Estonian racing colleagues Ester Rosin and Carmen Roosmaa.
Former European Champion Nikola Dryjakova moved to the top of the standings in qualifying with French girl Alizée Vanden Blecken and Nilbe running close behind as the session headed into the mid-point. Nilbe then moved into second and Aurora Filiberti of Italy snatched third. Dryjakova held on to claim pole with a best lap of 1min 19.81sec. Lithuania’s Astra Gurkšnytė was a non-starter.
Ski Juniors GP3.3 pole falls to Leo Kete
Four Junior riders took part in their opening sessions. Hungary’s Marvin Bohuslav was joined by Norway’s Adrian Kristoffersen, young Frenchman Maxime Arthebise and Hungary’s Leo Kete.
Bohuslav was the man to beat in practice until Arthebise ran faster with a lap of 1min 23.77sec. Kete hit the front at the start of qualifying and a time of 1min 21.20sec kept his rivals at bay with Bohuslav taking second from Arthebise and Kristoffersen.
Runabout Junior GP4 pole for Italy’s Aurora Filiberti
Half a dozen young riders took to the water for the Runabout Junior GP4 qualifiers and Ayrton Cerere of Italy showed his potential in the practice session to get the better of Kimily Lepp and Aurora Filiberti with the Estonian duo of Katarina Sepp and Rihard Leinsalu running ahead of Adas Zalagaitis.
But Filiberti hit the front in qualifying with a lap of 1min 20.31sec and stayed ahead of Zalagaitis, Lepp and Leinsalu to claim pole. Lepp managed to snatch second place late in the session but Leinsalu was docked a lap for missing a turn buoy and slipped to fourth.
Runabout Veterans GP1 pole for Adam Wasilewski
Eight riders entered in the Runabout Veterans GP1 section rounded off the morning’s action before the lunch break. Estonia’s Valeri Trujevtsev was the early pace-setter in practice from fellow countryman Margus Kesküla and local rider Bartyzel Arkadiusz.
But Pole Adam Wasilewski hit the front in qualifying with a lap of 1min 11.78sec and stayed clear of Tomasz Kaźmierczak and Germany’s Hans-Werner Reichardt in a tight pole position contest. Trujevtsev was down in fourth. The leading quartet held station with Kesküla qualifying in fifth but Trujevtsev was later docked a lap and Kaźmierczak was disqualified. That meant Reichardt climbed to second behind Wasilewski.
Reinass on pole in Ski GP2
After the lunch break, 11 riders took to the water for the Ski GP2 qualifiers. Dutchman Daan Hoeke was the quickest of the early riders in practice until he was overtaken by Estonia’s Mattias Reinass and Luuk Hoeke. Karl Joosep Steinberg and Marten Tiik were also running well.
Reinass continued to set the pace in qualifying and a lap of 1min 23.63sec gave the Estonian pole position from Marlon Tiik, Steinberg, Csongopr Jaszai and Daan and Luuk Hoeke.
Domantas takes Runabout GP2 pole
A bumper field of 14 lined up for the opening Runabout GP2 session. Mattias Siimann started well out of the blocks in practice to head the likes of Vaznys Domantas, Arnas Jakucionis, Konrad Wróbel and the experienced Petr Dryjak.
Domantas snatched a late pole from Siimann and Prats Palau with Tom Claerhout in fourth ahead of Jakucionis and Dryjak.
First Ski Ladies GP1 pole of the season for Ypraus
Two recent World Champions and eight of the fastest ladies in the world lined up for their Ski Ladies GP1 qualifying. Jasmiin Ypraus was quick out of the blocks in practice to forge ahead of arch rival Jessica Chavanne, Joana Graça, Lou Dardillat and Naomi Benini.
The Estonian defending World Champion maintained her pace into qualifying with a flying lap of 1min 14.79sec and that was enough to hold off Chavanne at halfway. Benini, Virginie Morlaes and Graça rounded off the top five. Ypraus could not be moved and the Estonian snatched pole for the first Moto of the season.
Ski GP1 pole for Belgian Quinten Bossche
A massive field of 23 of the world’s best Ski Division GP1 riders assembled for their free practice and pole sessions. Morgan Poret was into a fast rhythm in practice but defending World Champion Quinten Bossche soon topped the practice times with a flyer of 1min 22.80sec. His fellow Belgian countryman Xavier Pessleux was also in impressive form.
But it was qualifying that really mattered and Mickaël Poret laid down the early gauntlet with a run of 1min 16.423sec to move ahead of Bossche, Oliver Koch Hansen, Valentin Dardillat and Morgan Poret. Anders Keller moved up to fourth after seven minutes of the session and then Bossche hit the front with a lap of 1min 16.34sec. That was sufficient for the Ostende driver to claim pole from Mickaël Poret, Koch Hansen, Keller, Dardillat and Morgan Poret.
Last gasp Runabout GP1 pole for debutant Laforge
The flagship Runabout GP1 category saw 19 entrants on the start line and Jeremy Perez throw down the gauntlet in practice from Pierre François Savelli and Manuel Reggiani.
Perez hit the front again at the start of the qualifying session with a lap of 1min 06.93sec to snatch provisional pole from World Champion Samuel Johansson, Robin Laforge, Savelli, Martin Doulik and Linus Lindberg. But Belgian Laforge hit back to snatch top spot with a lap of 1min 06.65sec and was then displaced almost immediately by Johansson (1min 05.37sec).
Perez was not to be denied, however, and a late lap of 1min 05.29sec put the Frenchman back at the top with Johansson, Laforge and Savelli running out of time behind. Andrzej Wisniewski moved ahead of Doulik and into fifth and then Laforge dramatically carded a 1min 04.46sec to grab pole in the closing minutes on his Runabout GP1 debut to demote Perez and Johansson to second and third.