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Wednesday, August 27: Just two weeks after travelling to Sumatra to take part in the opening round of the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship, many of the entrants will rejoin their European rivals to compete in next week’s Grand Prix of Vichy, France on the Allier River.
The event is the fourth and final round of the UIM-ABP European Continental Aquabike Championship and will see the outcome of numerous race categories decided, in addition to hosting the stand-alone UIM-ABP European Endurance Championship.
Racers across up to 14 categories have already take part in Grand Prix in Poland, Portugal and Hungary this season and the most recent round at an old quarry lake in Győrzámoly, near Győr, in Hungary has left the door open for Vichy to decide the outcome of several European titles.
Frenchman Jéremy Perez heads to his home event with a commanding 44-point cushion in the flagship Runabout GP1 category and is the odds-on favourite to secure the title. Belgian Robin Laforge is his closest challenger, although Pierre-François Savelli will also be eying up the runner-up spot in the championship.
Mickael Poret has a 10-point lead over the recent Grand Prix of Indonesia winner Oliver Koch Hansen in Ski Division GP1. The Frenchman has won four of the nine Motos this season in the European Championship to the two earned by his closest Danish rival.
Quinten Bossche is the defending World Champion and started his European campaign strongly in Poland before suffering two retirements in Portugal. He holds third in the rankings, albeit 46 points behind Poret. With Morgan Poret on the sidelines after sustaining an injury in Hungary, Kerto Kase is Bossche’s closest rival in the battle for third place.
Jessica Chavanne won the opening three Motos of the season in Poland but has since been pegged back by her Ski Ladies GP1 rivals. The French girl takes a 24-point lead over Virginie Morlaes to Vichy with Jasmiin Ypraus a single point further adrift in third place.
Benedicte Drange is the girl of the moment: despite missing the opening Grand Prix in Poland, the Norwegian went on to win the next six European Motos and holds fourth in the title race, albeit 37 points off Chavanne’s leading total.
Italian veteran Roberto Mariani has won five of the six Freestyle Motos and has a virtually unassailable 19-point lead in the defence of his European title. Fellow countryman Massimo Accumolo is his closest challenger.
The outcome of the Ski GP2 title race is too close to call: Daan Hoeke has an 11-point advantage over the tying Estonian duo of Karl-Joosep Steinberg and Marlon Tiik. Mattias Reinass has won six Motos from six starts, having missed the race meeting in Portugal, and is 32 points behind Hoeke as a result. Luuk Hoeke is fifth, a further three points behind Reinass.
The Ski GP3 category is, perhaps, the tensest heading into the final three Motos of the season. Loris Lambert is yet to win a Moto this season but consistent finishes have earned the Belgian 168 points and that puts him one clear of a tying Manuel Leite and Michael van Reybroek.
Alexandre Bourgeois of France is just six points off the lead in fourth, while Csongor Jászai missed one race meeting but four heat wins from the other six Motos have lifted the Hungarian into fifth.
Alejandro Prats Palau has a 12-point cushion over Tom Claerhout in the Runabout GP2 category and a 14-point lead over Domantas Vaznys heading into the final weekend. While these three drivers should battle it out for title honours, Italy’s Manuel Reggiani – who missed the Grand Prix of Poland – still has a mathematical chance of causing an upset from fourth place in the rankings.
Prats Palau will also be fighting it out for Runabout GP4 honours. The Ibiza-based Spaniard has a one-point advantage over a tying
Arti Mölter and Grantas Gurkšnys heading into the last three Motos of the year, Juliusz Roman is also in contention from fourth place – just two points off the lead – and Henri Koppas, Erikas Butkus and Karol Puzelevic are all within striking distance.
Nikola Dryjakova has a massive 60-point lead over Aurora Filiberti and Kätriin Nilbe in the Runabout Ladies GP4 section. The Czech has already claimed four Moto wins this season. Ilaria Vanni is only three points behind Filiberti and Nilbe and more than capable of finishing the season in second place.
Frenchman Mathys Mezière leads his nearest Ski GP4 rival Daniils Potrovailo by 38 points, while Lithuanian Grantas Gurkšnys is just three points further behind in third and Lucas Mouchotte is a close fourth. Markus Erlach won the last round in Hungary but missed the opening two Grand Prix of the season.
Leo Kete and Maxime Arthebise are the two title contenders in the Ski Junior GP3.3 class. Aurora Filiberti holds a five-point lead over Rihard Leinsalu and Adas Zalagaitis in Runabout Juniors GP4, while the weekend will also host Ski GP4 Juniors.
A crammed itinerary sees Endurance and circuit registration and technical checks on Wednesday (September 3) before a manic Thursday offers Endurance pole position qualifying, the first free practice sessions for the circuit racers and the first of the Endurance GP1, GP2 and GP3 Motos.
Friday morning (September 5) is dominated by pole position for the circuit disciplines and the second and third Endurance Motos. The afternoon sees the opening Motos for six of the circuit classes and the remainder of the qualifying sessions.
The last of the opening minor circuit Motos and the first of the Moto 2s will be shoehorned into Saturday morning’s timetable before the day ends with the opening Ski Ladies GP1, Ski GP1 and Runabout GP1 Motos, the third and fourth Endurance heats and the first Freestyle Moto.
The third of the Junior Motos precede an endurance heat and the second of the Ski Ladies GP1, Ski GP1, Runabout GP1 and Freestyle Motos on Sunday morning. The remaining Moto 3s take place in the afternoon with the final Endurance GP1 Moto wrapping up the weekend’s action.